September 2023

Untitled

How did you get to this style of painting?

“Do you mean, what have I done with my life? (chuckles to herself) To me these paintings are a sense of energy. So if I see someone and they’re happy, I paint a happy vibe. Cos their spirit is happy. And sometimes it’s hard because on the outside they’re real happy but on the inside they’re real sad. Sometimes you do stuff (like a painting) and it adds up later on. But I still don’t know what it means and don’t know where my style comes from because it’s both the path I walk on and the cracks in the dirt. It’s like looking at a landscape but I haven’t been there yet. Maybe I’ll get there one day. I believe things happen for a reason.”

– Sylvia Wilson

Mungkulu

“Mungkulu, down at the Canning Stock Route. It’s a rockhole place. That’s where Dadda [Samson] and her family come from. Nyarru (shame, poor thing), old lady.”

– Miriam Atkins

Mungkulu is a rockhole located south east of Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). This site lies within Miriam’s ngurra (home Country, camp) through her family. As Miriam recounts here, the site was also the home Country for fellow Martumili Artist Dadda Samson (dec.)

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. At this time knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location and type of water. Each of the hundreds of claypans, rockholes, waterholes, soaks and springs found in the Martu desert homelands is known by name, location, quality and seasonal availability through real life experience and the recounting of Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives.