Lunki (witchetty grub) 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 Read more…
Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) “That’s my jamu (grandfather) and nanna’s Country. I always go on a ranger trip there with my mum, Thelma Judson, and my little baby brothers, Junior and Jamie Rowlands.” – Lynette Rowlands Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) is a large round jurnu (soak) Read more…
Jila (snake, living water) 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 (traditional, desert dwelling) period, knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, Read more…
Sea Turtle (Goolil) 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 Read more…
Jilji Tuwa (Sandhill) “This one near my countryside. It’s kayili (north) of my Country. Big one Jilji. Lots of tuwa (sandhills). My nana mili (denotes ownership) Country, mama mili, daddy mili Country. They walk around there, get kuwiyi (meat). The old people would cook ’em up! This a pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) place. I was a young girl with my nana and mama, walking around Read more…
Sandhills in the Moonlight The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, an enormous tract dominated by distinctive red tali, or tuwa (sandhills). These sandhills present an unforgiving landscape; sparse vegetation covers a seemingly never ending expanse of dunes, Read more…
Two Worlds “This painting is about my experience being a Martu woman, in the body of a Martu, but I was brought up different. Growing up in a whitefella way. If I wasn’t adopted, what would I be? There’s so many words- adoption, fostered, taken… but I wasn’t taken. My Read more…
Two Worlds “This painting is about my experience being a Martu woman, in the body of a Martu, but I was brought up different. Growing up in a whitefella way. If I wasn’t adopted, what would I be? There’s so many words- adoption, fostered, taken… but I wasn’t taken. My Read more…
Mungili Waterholes and Rock Holes “I was swimming there. Yeah, we go visit them a long time [ago]. We drink it, rain water from the rain. Big waterhole. It’s a fresh water, when the rain comes, fills it up. One for swimming and another rock hole for drinking.” – Marlene Read more…
Untitled “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you see Read more…