September 2026

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Wardapi Jukurrpa

‘This painting is about the way women hunt Wardapi – that sand goanna. He digs holes in the dunes, makes his nest deep inside. Many of the holes all join up. Women hunt Wardapi in the dunes by digging out the holes. Sometimes cover one, and Wardapi runs out other one. Need to hunt him together. Find all the holes. Dig them at the same time. Someone going to get him that way.’

The Wardapi Jukurrpa [Varanus Gouldii Goanna] belongs to the Spencer Sisters. It comes from Yarripilangku [aka Yinyiripalangu], south-west of Yuendumu. A group of Warlpiri Karnta [women] are sitting down in a circle when a Japangardi Wati [man] from Puturlu [Mt Theo], called Wamaru came upon them. He wants to take one of them, named Yurlkurinyi, of Nungarrayi skin, which is the wrong skin for him. He takes the Nungarrayi woman up a hill, where they make love. In response, the earth on top of the hill turns to Ngunjungunju [white ochre], and yellow and red ochre. The yellow is for Karnta and the red for Wati. The ochre is used by Warlpiri people for love magic and ceremonial decoration. The Wati turns all the Karnta and himself into Wardapi, aka Varanus Gouldii goannas. This Jukurrpa belongs to the Napaljarri/Japaljarri and Nungarrayi /Jungarrayi subsections, and the Japanangka/Napanangka, Japangardi/Napangardi subsections of Puturlu. The women are often represented by ‘U’ shapes. Concentric circles may illustrate Wardapi holes, or their droppings left behind them, and Wardapi tracks are usually represented by ‘W’ shapes and wavy lines.

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Two houses in Hermannsburg

‘Two houses in Hermannsburg, family houses at Sandhill Camp. That’s like our family area at Hermannsburg. The families are sitting down outside watching tourist cars coming to Alice Springs.’

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Two houses in Hermannsburg

‘Two houses in Hermannsburg, family houses at Sandhill Camp. That’s like our family area at Hermannsburg. The families are sitting down outside watching tourist cars coming to Alice Springs.’

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Women Digging for Honey Ants and Witchetty

Women digging for Honey Ants and Witchetty Grubs. Honey Ants hang from the ceiling of chambers their family dig out of the earth. The tunnels into the chambers are long and complex. That means the Honey Ants have to be tracked, and then the women use informed guesswork based on experience to decide where to dig. The process can take hours of very hard work, but the ladies are always completely rewarded when they find those delicious ants whose abdomens are full of sweet honey. Witchetty live in the roots of specific trees, and after it rains, they move up the chambers in which they live, to avoid drowning. Digging can be slow and complex. Women check the base of trees to see if there is any cracking on the upper root bases. The cracking is a way of telling if there might be witchetty living in that root. The process can take hours of very hard work, but the ladies are always completely rewarded when they find those witchetty grubs. 

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Women Digging for Honey Ants and Witchetty

Women digging for Honey Ants and Witchetty Grubs. Honey Ants hang from the ceiling of chambers their family dig out of the earth. The tunnels into the chambers are long and complex. That means the Honey Ants have to be tracked, and then the women use informed guesswork based on experience to decide where to dig. The process can take hours of very hard work, but the ladies are always completely rewarded when they find those delicious ants whose abdomens are full of sweet honey. Witchetty live in the roots of specific trees, and after it rains, they move up the chambers in which they live, to avoid drowning. Digging can be slow and complex. Women check the base of trees to see if there is any cracking on the upper root bases. The cracking is a way of telling if there might be witchetty living in that root. The process can take hours of very hard work, but the ladies are always completely rewarded when they find those witchetty grubs. 

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Kipara (Bush Turkey)

In this painting, the ‘U’ shapes represent women sitting down on country, gathered together for ceremony and for collecting bush foods. Beside them are red oval shapes, showing the wild potato, a traditional bush tucker that grows beneath the desert soil. These are carefully dug up, cleaned, and cooked in the fire until they become soft and a little bit sweet — a favourite food shared among family. The concentric circles scattered across the painting show the holes dug by children as they search for bush potatoes and play in the sand. Around these holes, yellow wildflowers bloom brightly after rain, spreading across the country and bringing colour to the dry land. The story also includes the Kipara (wild turkey), a bird that moves carefully through the spinifex and open country. Families hunt and cook the Kipara, continuing a long tradition of living from and caring for the land.

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Tali (Sandhill)

Tali (Sandhills) at Mutijulu. my Grandfather’s country is Mutijulu, community close to Uluru, where I have painted these Tali (Sandhills). Tali is everywhere around there, vibrant orange and red. Lots of native flowers growing on the Tali.

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Tali (Sandhill)

Tali (Sandhills) at Mutijulu. my Grandfather’s country is Mutijulu, community close to Uluru, where I have painted these Tali (Sandhills). Tali is everywhere around there, vibrant orange and red. Lots of native flowers growing on the Tali.

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Wardapi Jukurrpa

‘This painting is about the way women hunt Wardapi – that sand goanna. He digs holes in the dunes, makes his nest deep inside. Many of the holes all join up. Women hunt Wardapi in the dunes by digging out the holes. Sometimes cover one, and Wardapi runs out other one. Need to hunt him together. Find all the holes. Dig them at the same time. Someone going to get him that way.’

The Wardapi Jukurrpa [Varanus Gouldii Goanna] belongs to the Spencer Sisters. It comes from Yarripilangku [aka Yinyiripalangu], south-west of Yuendumu. A group of Warlpiri Karnta [women] are sitting down in a circle when a Japangardi Wati [man] from Puturlu [Mt Theo], called Wamaru came upon them. He wants to take one of them, named Yurlkurinyi, of Nungarrayi skin, which is the wrong skin for him. He takes the Nungarrayi woman up a hill, where they make love. In response, the earth on top of the hill turns to Ngunjungunju [white ochre], and yellow and red ochre. The yellow is for Karnta and the red for Wati. The ochre is used by Warlpiri people for love magic and ceremonial decoration. The Wati turns all the Karnta and himself into Wardapi, aka Varanus Gouldii goannas. This Jukurrpa belongs to the Napaljarri/Japaljarri and Nungarrayi /Jungarrayi subsections, and the Japanangka/Napanangka, Japangardi/Napangardi subsections of Puturlu. The women are often represented by ‘U’ shapes. Concentric circles may illustrate Wardapi holes, or their droppings left behind them, and Wardapi tracks are usually represented by ‘W’ shapes and wavy lines.

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Bush Flower

‘When I paint Bush Flower, my painting means all the seasons as they change, and the landscape views, about the Country, and about the place, where the bush tucker and bush medicine can be found. It’s about people going hunting, and about people telling their stories about that’s the time where to find new bush tucker, everything growing. It is like a map and a calendar, and history, genealogy, Everything! I see it like a very BIG picture. In my mind making lots of pictures sharing these stories with others so they can understand. It’s not just a leaf that I’m doing. The painting is the big picture in my mind, spreading everything out before me like a landscape view, and the seasons, and the calendar, and the history, and genealogy, and stories… It’s everything to me. All of what I know. That’s what I’m painting when I paint bush flowers.’