Waterholes This work depicts a waterhole within the artists’ ngurra (home Country, camp), typically represented with circular forms. Waterholes are sites that require maintenance, including digging to increase flow, clearing out surrounding growth, and cleaning up after sullying by camels or cattle. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, knowledge Read more…
Seasons “My paintings are all about the seasons. The Country is always changing. One day you might see one kind of flower and the next day they are gone; they have given way to a new kind of flower. I see the Country in a different way. In my paintings Read more…
sea and land tucker Depicted in this work are traditional types of bush tucker, their habitats, and their related hunting and gathering methods. 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 Read more…
Milkarra Milkarra is a soak located just north of the eastern end of the Percival Lakes region in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. This site lies within Ngarga’s ngurra (home Country, camp) through her father, and was part of the area which she knew intimately and travelled extensively with her Read more…
Untitled 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 Read more…
Grandmother’s Country “They [a group of women] were sitting down, one rockhole there. All the bushtucker around.” – Sharon Palmer This story is part of a Jukurrpa story passed onto Sharon by her grandmother, Katjarra Butler. The term Jukurrpa is often translated in English as the ‘dreaming’, or ‘dreamtime’. It refers generally to the period Read more…
My Grandmother’s Way “I’m painting my grandmother’s country, her way. Katjarra style.” – Sharon Palmer This site forms part of Sharon’s ngurra (home Country, camp) through her grandmother, Katjarra Butler. Located east of Kiwirrkurra, on Pintupi country. The Western Desert term ‘ngurra’ is hugely versatile in application. Broadly denoting birthplace and belonging, ngurra can refer to a Read more…
My Grandmother’s Way “I’m painting my grandmother’s country, her way. Katjarra style.” – Sharon Palmer This site forms part of Sharon’s ngurra (home Country, camp) through her grandmother, Katjarra Butler. Located east of Kiwirrkurra, on Pintupi country. The Western Desert term ‘ngurra’ is hugely versatile in application. Broadly denoting birthplace and belonging, ngurra can refer to a Read more…
Parnngurr “We were climbing Parnngurr hill; we were frightened. Kartiya (Europeans) would walk around, trying to catch Martu people. We would run up the hill and hide. We watched them catch people. We were eating flour that white people gave us. It was horrible. From [Parnngurr rockhole], we got in Read more…
Kaalpa (Kalypa, Canning Stock Route Well 23) “From Tiwa (Canning Stock Route Well 26) we used to travel to Kaalpa (Kalypa, Canning Stock Route Well 23), mummy and daddy used to take us around there, [my sister] Pinyirr and me. From Kaalpa we would go to Jilkupuka (Canning Stock Route Read more…