Alma Nangala Robertson, Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming) - Ngalyipi, 30x30cm
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- Details
- Artist Statement
- Artist Biography
- Aboriginal Artist - Alma Nangala Robertson
- Community - Yuendumu
- Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
- Catalogue number - 1065/20
- 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
This ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming) comes from Mina Mina, a very important women’s Dreaming site far to the west of Yuendumu near Lake Mackay and the WA border. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this Dreaming are Napangardi/Napanangka women and Japangardi/Japanangka men; the area is sacred to Napangardi and Napanangka women. There are a number of ‘mulju’ (water soakages) and a ‘maluri’ (clay pan) at Mina Mina.
In the Dreamtime, ancestral women danced at Mina Mina and ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks) rose up out of the ground. The women collected the digging sticks and then travelled on to the east, dancing, digging for bush tucker, collecting ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine [Tinospora smilacina]), and creating many places as they went. ‘Ngalyipi’ is a rope-like creeper that grows up the trunks and limbs of trees, including ‘kurrkara’ (desert oak [Allocasuarina decaisneana]). It is used as a ceremonial wrap and as a strap to carry ‘parraja’ (coolamons) and ‘ngami’ (water carriers). ‘Ngalyipi’ is also used to tie around the forehead to cure headaches, and to bind cuts.
The women stopped at Karntakurlangu, Janyinki, Parapurnta, Kimayi, and Munyuparntiparnti, sites spanning from the west to the east of Yuendumu. When they stopped, the women dug for bush foods like ‘jintiparnta’ (desert truffle [Elderia arenivaga]). The Dreaming track eventually took them far beyond Warlpiri country. The track passed through Coniston in Anmatyerre country to the east, and then went on to Alcoota and Aileron far to the northeast of Yuendumu and eventually on into Queensland.
In Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa and other elements. In many paintings of this Jukurrpa, sinuous lines are used to represent the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine). Concentric circles are often used to represent the ‘jintiparnta’ (desert truffles) that the women have collected, while straight lines can be used to depict the ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks).
Alma Nangala Robertson was born in 1969 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She was born into a family of artists and would watch her family paint when she was a little girl. Her mother and her grandparents have since passed away but her father Eddie Robertson and her brother Ellsworth Jangala Robertson still paint. She also has a sister. Alma is married to Steven Jungarrayi Collins, an artist who also works with Warlukurlungu Artists. She has three sons and one daughter and an adopted son as well as two grandsons. Alma attended Yuendumu local school before going to Yarara, a boarding college in Alice Springs for Year 8 and 9 students. When she finished schooling she returned to Yuendumu where she worked for the Nutrition Program for many years. She worked on programs including the Skinny Kids Program, the Strong Baby Program and Nutrition at School Program. Alma has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 1992. She paints her mother’s and father’s Jukurrpa stories, in particular Ngalyipi Jukurrpa (Snake Vine Dreaming) from her mother’s side and her Watiyawarnu Jukurrpa (Seed Dreaming) from her father’s side. She uses traditional shapes and an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.
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