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Published by on November 11, 2020

Lake Disappointment (Kumpupirntily)

“Thats Kumpupirntily- Lake Disappointment. The Cannibals live underneath the lake there, its a salt lake. [gesturing to the u-shaped symbols in the painting] That’s all the ladies sitting around the lake, sitting around the the claypans in the lake. That’s our Country, mine and Yunkurra’s Country.”

– Judith Anya Samson

This painting depicts Lake Disappointment near Puntawarri. Dunes and green grasses surround the large salt lake. Kumpupirntily is one of the most sacred and dangerous sites in the far Western Desert. This is where the Ngayurnangalku (cannibal beings of the Dreamtime) live beneath the lake, surfacing only to feed on human flesh.

In pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) times, the artist’s family lived nomadically on these lands, moving from water source to water source hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. They would traverse very large distances, visiting some areas in the dry and some in the wet season depending on the availability of water. As they travelled and hunted they would also burn areas of country, creating a larger diversity of plant and animal life.

Categories: Martumili Artists

Name: Judith Anya Samson

Language: Putijarra

Community: Jigalong

Biography:

"I was born in Hedland, Port Hedland seaside, but I moved to Jigalong community with my nanna [Dadda Samson] and my pop. Then we moved to desert, to Puntawarri, Well 17. I was still a young girl, still crawling in the desert. It was nice there. Some other families lived there with us. We had some farm, some vegetables. We went schooling in Puntawarri at the school, learning ‘two way’ [refers to teaching in both Martu Wangka and English, with a focus on local cultural and ecological knowledge]. We used to go and get some parnajalpa (goanna) and turkey. We had a Toyota truck. We been go hunting at the desert. Some people there still, but they gotta build some new houses and then then we going back to [live in] Puntawarri. My nanna’s sister had a house here in Newman, so we used to come and visit. I did high school here in Newman. Now I move between Jigalong and Newman. My nanna is living in Jigalong, so I still go visit here. She’s got a green house. My sister is there looking after her.

I started to do painting here at Martumili when I was a young girl. I been help my nanna painting, we were painting Puntawarri one. My nanna was teach me to paint. I work with Martumili now. I help sell the painting, and photograph and catalogue them. I went to America, Fremantle, the Gold Coast, Sydney, and Alice Springs with Martumili. I also like playing softball. We play for Jigalong, Western Desert. I work for KJ (Karninyanpa Jukurrpa ranger group) mob in Jigalong too. I like to dance and listen to music."

Anya is the granddaughter of Dadda Samson and Yanjimi (Peter) Rowlands, both senior Martu artists. She was born in Port Hedland and has lived most of her life in Jigalong. Any was raised by her grandparents Dadda and Yanjimi, as her parents passed away when she was very youn. Dadda has taught Anya to paint; she has passed stories onto Anya for painting. Anya frequently travels with Dadda to her country around Jigalong, Puntawarri and the Rabbit Proof Fence, the subject of many of her paintings. Anya has exhibited in most Martumili Artists' exhibitions in recent years. Her work has been acquired by the Art Gallery of Queensland (GOMA) and the National Museum of Australia. In 2011, Anya travelled to the United States of America with other Martu artists for the exhibition "Waru" at the Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford University.

© the artist / art centre