Valma Nakamarra White, Warna Jukurrpa (Snake Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Valma Nakamarra White
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 6600/23
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The place depicted in this painting, Ngama, is located south of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. This Dreaming belongs to Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. This story describes the journey of Yarripiri, an ancestral ‘warna’ (snake). He travelled from Wirnparrku near Mt. Liebig to Yimparlu, and continued its way through the territories of Ngapanangka-jarra, Warlajirryi, Kurnmundu, Yinyirrinyi on to Ngama. Later Yarripiri travelled further north via Mijirlparnta (Mission Creek) and right through to the top end of Australia.Yarripiri was very sad as his family had left him behind at Wirnparrku. He was blind and crippled but he was determined to follow and search them out. He had to be carried. This was the job undertaken by the ‘kurdungurlu’ (ceremonial police) of the Dreaming: the Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Where Yarripiri's tail slumped and touched the ground creeks were formed, such as Mijirlparnta, west of Yuendumu. Yarripiri tracks and paths are often represented by arc shapes or curved lines depicted across the canvas.

Valma Nakamarra White was born in 1997 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. Valerie was born into a family of artists. Her mother is Sabrina Napangardi Granites and her Grandmother is Alma Nungarrayi Granites, both established artists who have exhibited in Australia and overseas. Valma grew up listening to her mother and father’s Jukurrpa stories while watching her family paint. She went to the local school in Yuendumu, finishing off her studies at Yirara College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. When she finished school she worked on the Mt Theo Program and on a Walpriri Media project. She is married and has a little baby girl Cerella, born in 2013.

Valma began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, in 2013. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa, Warna Jukurrpa (Snake Dreaming) that relates to her homeland, Mijirlparnta (Mission Creek). These stories have been passed down over the generations for millennia and relate directly to the land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Valma uses an unrestricted palette to depict a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

When Valma is not painting she enjoys her home and is ‘house proud’ creating a clean home to share with family and friends, especially when watching TV. She also works occasionally at the art centre assisting with day to day activities. On weekends she sometimes goes hunting with her family.