Evelyn Nangala Robertson, Ngapa Jukurrpa - Pirlinyarnu, 30x30cm

• Artist - Evelyn Nangala Robertson
• Community - Nyirripi  
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 717/15ny   
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas  
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang

The site depicted in this painting is Pirlinyarnu (Mt. Farewell), about 165 km west of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. The ‘kirda’ (owners) for the water Dreaming site at Pirlinyarnu are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men.

Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm that collided with another storm from Wapurtali at Mirawarri. A ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) carried the storm further west from Mirawarri. The two storms travelled across the country from Karlipirnpa, a ceremonial site for the water Dreaming near Kintore that is owned by members of the Napaljarri/Japaljarri and Napanangka/Japanangka subsections. Along the way the storms passed through Juntiparnta, a site that is owned by Jampijinpa men. The storm eventually became too heavy for the falcon. It dropped the water at Pirlinyarnu, where it formed an enormous ‘maluri’ (claypan). A ‘mulju’ (soakage) exists in this place today. Whenever it rains today, hundreds of ‘ngapangarlpa’ (bush ducks) still flock to Pirlinyarnu.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming), associated sites, and other elements. In many paintings of this 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 beds.

Evelyn Nangala Robertson was born in 1986 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in Australia. She is the daughter of Tina Napangardi Martin Robertson and grand-daughter of Shorty Jangala Robertson, both artists in their own right. Evelyn attended the local school in Yuendumu. In 2005 she moved to Nyirripi with her family and still lives there. She has worked for the Child Care Centre and the local shop and now works at the school. She is married to Kenneth Jungarrayi Martin, also an artist with Warlukurlangu Artists. She has one son, Rhys, born in 2004 from a previous relationship.

Evelyn has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation; an Aboriginal owned and governed Art Centre, since 2007. She mainly paints her Grandfather’s Jukurrpa stories, but also her Father’s and her Grandmother’s Jukurrpa, Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. “As a little girl I use to watch My Grandmother and Mum paint and they would tell me a story about the painting, the dream-time”. Evelyn uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

When Evelyn is not working or painting she likes to spend time with her family and with her friends.

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