Tangentyere Artists

Desert sands Walking through the desert sands, watching the snake glide through the sand dunes

Watiyawarnu (Isobelle Spencer) Women collecting Watiyawarnu (Acacia tenuissima). Back at camp after collecting the seeds they make large windbreaks for shelter and winnow the seed in the late afternoon. Immature watiyawarnu seed is ground into a paste and can be used to treat upset stomachs. There is an important ceremony Read more…

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 Read more…

Women Digging for Honey Ants Women planning their dig for Honey Ants. 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 Read more…

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 Read more…

Women Digging for Honey Ants Women planning their dig for Honey Ants. 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 Read more…

Watiyawarnu Women collecting Watiyawarnu (Acacia tenuissima). Back at camp after collecting the seeds they make large windbreaks for shelter and winnow the seed in the late afternoon. Immature watiyawarnu seed is ground into a paste and can be used to treat upset stomachs. There is an important ceremony for this Read more…

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 Read more…

Pura Pura. We call him Pura. Bush Tomato (Solanum chippendalei) you call him. Got lot of little black seed… got to dig him out and throw away. Rubbish one, that seed. We use punu, a little tool from wood. He is called Karriti.

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 Read more…