Nathania Nangala Granites, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Puyurru, 107x61cm

• Artist - Nathania Nangala Granites
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 5042/16 
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H107 W61 D2  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping

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.

Nathania Nangala Granites was born 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. She was born into a family of artists. Her mother is Valda Napangardi Granites and her grandmother is Alma Nungarrayi Granites, an established artist who has exhibited in Australia and overseas. Nathania grew up listening to her mother’s and her father’s Jukurrpa stories and watching her family paint. She went to the local school in Yuendumu. When she finished school she assisted Yasmin Napurrular Musharbash, taking photos for Yasmin’s study of everyday life in an Aboriginal camp. Nathania is married and has a little boy born in 2013.

Nathania has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2011. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa, particularly Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) and her mother’s Jukurrpa, Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming.  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. Nathania uses an unrestricted palette to depict a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

When Nathania is not working she is taking care of her baby son.

She is also Nampijinpa. She has got two skin-names.

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