Alfreda Nungarrayi Martin, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Puyurru, 122x76cm

• Artist - Alfreda Nungarrayi Martin
• Community - Nyirripi
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 2061/18ny
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H122 W76 D2 
• Postage variants - This work is posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are ‘mulju’ (soakages), or naturally occurring wells. The 'kirda' (owners) for this site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. The storm travelled across the country from the east to the west, initially travelling with a ‘pamapardu Jukurrpa’ (termite Dreaming) from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumariyumari blew the storm on to Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of lightning shot out at Wirnpa (also called Mardinymardinypa) and at Kanaralji. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the ‘kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa’ (children of the clouds Dreaming). The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama using baby clouds and also stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today as rock formations.

The termite Dreaming eventually continued west to Nyirripi, a community approximately 160 km west of Yuendumu. The water Dreaming then travelled from the south over Mikanji, a watercourse with soakages northwest of Yuendumu. At Mikanji, the storm was picked up by a ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) and taken farther north. At Puyurru, the falcon dug up a giant ‘warnayarra’ (rainbow serpent). The serpent carried water with it to create another large lake, Jillyiumpa, close to an outstation in this country. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this story are Jangala men and Nangala women. After stopping at Puyurru, the water Dreaming travelled on through other locations including Yalyarilalku, Mikilyparnta, Katalpi, Lungkardajarra, Jirawarnpa, Kamira, Yurrunjuku, and Jikaya before moving on into Gurindji country to the north.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming). Short dashes are often used to represent ‘mangkurdu’ (cumulus & stratocumulus clouds), and longer, flowing lines represent ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters). Small circles are used to depict ‘mulju’ (soakages) and river bed.

Alfreda Nungarrayi Martin was born in 1978 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in NT of Australia. Alfreda comes from a well-established family of artists—her mother is Helen Nampijinpa Robertson, her grandfather is Shorty Jangala Robertson, and Alfreda’s step-father is Paddy Japaljarri Stewart—all well-known artists both in Australia and overseas. Alfreda attended the local school in Yuendumu and completed her studies (Year 12) through the Northern Territory Secondary Correspondence School (now the NT Open Education Centre). As part of her studies she attended Residential School in Darwin where students attended a week of timetabled lessons with teachers for all their subjects. When she completed her studies she looked for work. One of her jobs was preparing lunch for pupils at the local school in Yuendumu. Although Alfreda first began painting for Warlukurlangu in 2008, shortly after she began painting for herself, displaying her works in Alice Spring to sell. She has recently come back to Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre in Yuendumu, where her grandfather, Shorty Jangala and her step-father, Paddy Japaljarri regularly paint. Alfreda likes to paint, especially her father’s dreaming, Yurrampi Jukurrpa (Honey Ant Dreaming), dreamings which have been passed down to her from her father’s side and from his father’s side before him for millennia. She also likes to paint her grandfather’s dreaming¬¬Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming). These dreamings relate directly to the land and its features, and the plants and animals that live on it. Alfreda never married, nor has she had children of her own, however she has many nieces and nephews to play with.