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Wildflowers

“Flower after the rain, you know- a mix. Blue, pink, yellow and purple- grow up with the grass after the rain. You can see anywhere when the burnt ground grows after the rain. [On] old nyamu (my grandfather’s) burnt Country.”

– Ngarga Thelma Judson



In this work Thelma celebrates the aesthetic splendour of desert flowers in her grandfather’s ngurra (home Country, camp).

In the context of the often harsh and arid environments in which desert flowers thrive, their vibrancy, delicacy, and variation become even more spectacular. At the same time, she acknowledges the phenomenon of the desert flowers blooming in relation to the Martu cycle of burning and regrowth and its five distinct phases. First is nyurnma (freshly burnt Country), followed after the rains by waru-waru, when young, bright green plants start to grow. Nyukura occurs between one and three years after burning, when plants have matured and are fruiting and seeding. Manguu is four to six years post burning, when spinifex has matured to the point that it can be burned once again. Finally, kunarka signifies the time when spinifex and other plant species have become old growth and pose a risk of destructive bushfires.

Thelma Judson’s grandfather’s Country is Yimiri. Yimiri comprises two soaks situated in the middle of a salt lake in the Percival Lakes area, within Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. Around the waterhole the Country is dominated by tuwa (sandhills). When visiting this site to drink water, the plants and warta (trees, vegetation) growing in the kapi (water) are cleaned out as a way of maintaining the site. 

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) days, Ngarga and her family travelled extensively through this county, their ngurra (home Country, camp). Her family moved up and down through this Country between water sources. When it was raining, they would build a wuungku (shelter) where they could sleep and stay warm beside a waru (fire). When they camped in a particular location for a period the elders would go hunting, leaving the children behind. Ngarga fondly recalls playing around in the tuwa in this region, catching parla-parla (type of lizard).

Yimiri is home to an ancestral jila (snake). The Western Desert term jila is used interchangeably to describe springs considered to be ‘living’ waters and snakes, both of which play a central role in Martu culture and Jukurrpa (Dreaming). During the pujiman period, knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location of water sources. Of the many permanent springs in Martu Country, very few are ‘living waters’; waters inhabited by jila. Before they became snakes, these beings were men who made rain, formed the land and introduced cultural practices like ceremonies and ritual songs. Some of the men travelled the desert together, visiting one another, but they all ended their journeys at their chosen spring alone, transformed into a snake. These important springs are named after their jila inhabitant, guarding their waters.

The region surrounding Yimiri was formed by Wirnpa, one of the most powerful of the ancestral jila (snake) men and the last to travel the desert during the Jukurrpa. Wirnpa is a rainmaking jila who lived and hunted in the Percival Lakes area. His travels are described in the songs and stories of many language groups across the Western Desert, even those far removed from his home site. In his epic travels, Wirnpa met and feasted with many other ancestral beings, exchanged ceremonial objects, and created a series of different laws and ceremonies. When he finally returned home, he searched for his many children only to discover that they had already died. They had laid down and become the salt springs of the Percival Lakes. Wirnpa wept for his children before himself transforming into a snake and entering the soak where he still resides.

Witchetty grub (Lunki)

Lunki (witchetty grubs) are the large, pinkish white, wood eating larvae of several moth species. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era, lunki were a reliable food source, forming a staple of the Martu diet, and today they remain equally popular. Lunki are eaten either raw or cooked in hot ashes, with a raw nutty taste that becomes creamy when cooked. Though they are available through the year, lunki are particularly prevalent in late wantajarra (cool season). They are found in the trunks and roots of several tree species including acacia, tinjirla (coolabah), and yurungkura (red river gum). 

Martu forage for lunki by creating a small incision in the bark of a tree where the lunki is located, which is then used as the entry point for the insertion of a small hook, typically fashioned from a stick but sometimes using wire. Typically, lunki is collected incidentally during hunting trips or resting stops, and is a relatively relaxing, sociable activity. 

During the pujiman 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. Whilst desert life has moved away from mobile hunter-gatherer subsistence throughout the course of the twentieth century, bush tucker continues to be a significant component of the modern Martu diet. Hunting and gathering bush tucker remains equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally. Though hunting and gathering implements have been modernised, methods of harvesting, tracking and the use of fire burning to drive animals from their retreats are still commonly practiced today.

Pinarti Seeds

[The] old people used to collect [the seeds] to attach to their hair and keep the fly out… they glue it in and wax it up with spinifex [resin]. They thread it up using their hair and make it into necklace.  – Nola Taylor

They’re seeds you find in the tree, you know. Red, orange, mixed colours yeah, yellow and brown. I seen her (Nola) collect it (Pinarti seeds) there, she collects it in her basket. – Jenny Butt

Martu country is home to incredibly diverse flora. Many of these plants are significant food sources, important bush medicine or celebrated for their aesthetic splendour.
The Pinarti tree or Erythrina vespertilio is one such example of this. The tree can be found along watercourses, and during the summer it produces Pinarti seeds. These seeds are often collected by Martu women who use them as beads for necklaces. As the seeds are vibrant red, orange and yellow they make for a colourful adornment.
The seeds also have a practical application as fly deterrents. By attaching them to their hair with spinifex resin, Martu are able to ustilise the weight and movement of the seeds to keep flies away from their face. This artwork celebrates the vibrancy of the Pinarti seeds and recognises the important role they play in Martu culture.  

Waterfall

This work portrays an area known to the artist, painted here from memory. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era one’s survival depended on their intimate knowledge of the location of resources; thus physical elements of Country, such as sources of kapi (water), tali (sandhills), and different varieties of warta (trees, vegetation) were carefully observed and remembered. Today, this relationship with Country remains equally strong, despite the movement of Martu out of the desert and into remote Aboriginal communities, towns and cities.

Also visible may be traces of life cycles based around kalyu (rain, water) and waru (fire). A thousands of year old practice, fire burning continues to be carried out as both an aid for hunting and a means of land management today. As the Martu travelled and hunted they would burn tracts of land, ensuring plant and animal biodiversity and reducing the risk of unmanageable, spontaneous bush fires. The patchwork nature of regrowth is visible in many landscape works, with each of the five distinctive phases of fire burning visually described with respect to the cycle of burning and regrowth.  

Finally, metaphysical information relating to a location may also be recorded; Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives chronicle the creation of physical landmarks, and can be referenced through depictions of ceremonial sites, songlines, and markers left in the land. 

Boab Trees

This work portrays an area known to the artist, painted here from memory. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era one’s survival depended on their intimate knowledge of the location of resources; thus physical elements of Country, such as sources of kapi (water), tali (sandhills), and different varieties of warta (trees, vegetation) were carefully observed and remembered. Today, this relationship with Country remains equally strong, despite the movement of Martu out of the desert and into remote Aboriginal communities, towns and cities.

Also visible may be traces of life cycles based around kalyu (rain, water) and waru (fire). A thousands of year old practice, fire burning continues to be carried out as both an aid for hunting and a means of land management today. As the Martu travelled and hunted they would burn tracts of land, ensuring plant and animal biodiversity and reducing the risk of unmanageable, spontaneous bush fires. The patchwork nature of regrowth is visible in many landscape works, with each of the five distinctive phases of fire burning visually described with respect to the cycle of burning and regrowth.  

Finally, metaphysical information relating to a location may also be recorded; Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives chronicle the creation of physical landmarks, and can be referenced through depictions of ceremonial sites, songlines, and markers left in the land.