Nola Napangardi Fisher, Warrilyi Ngurlu Jukurrpa – Pikilyi, 30x30cm

• Artist - Nola Napangardi Fisher
• Community - Yuendumu 
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 5361/15  
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas  
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang

The ‘warrilyi ngurlu Jukurrpa’ (blue mallee [Eucalyptus gamophylla] seed Dreaming) comes from Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs), a large waterhole and natural spring to the west of Yuendumu, close to Mount Doreen. Napangardi/Napanangka women and Japangardi/Japanangka men are the ‘kirda’ (owners) of the blue mallee seed Dreaming at Pikilyi. Nangala women and Jangala men are the ‘kurdungurlu’ (custodians) of this Dreaming.

‘Warrilyi’ (blue mallee) grow alongside spinifex in red sand and on rocky hills. This plant is very fire tolerant; new leaves grow back quickly after fire. In October and November, creamy white flowers blossom. These flowers are reputed to contain honey. Water is also sometimes collected from the roots of the tree.

In the blue mallee seed Dreaming, Napangardi and Napanangka women collect the ‘ngurlu’ (seeds) of the ‘warrilyi’ (blue mallee). ‘Warrilyi’ seeds are held in the nuts for up to six months, meaning that they are available even when other plant food sources are scarce. The women dry the nuts in the sun until they release the seed. They then clean and grind the seeds and cook them into damper on the top of the hill at Pikilyi.

This blue mallee seed Dreaming is only associated with Pikilyi, and does not travel to other locations. Pikilyi is an important site associated with a number of different Dreamings. These include `yuparli Jukurrpa’ (bush banana [Marsdenia australis] Dreaming), `purrpalanji Jukurrpa’ (skinny bush banana [Rhyncharrhena linearis] Dreaming), `kakalyalya Jukurrpa’ (cockatoo Dreaming), and `warna-jarra Jukurrpa’ (two snakes Dreaming). In the two snakes Dreaming story, Napangardi and Napanangka women picked lice off of the two snakes living in the waterhole at Pikilyi.

In Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa and other elements. Concentric circles are often used to represent the bush foods that the women have collected. Dots can be used to represent the ‘ngurlu’ (seeds) that the women have collected.

Nola Napangardi Fisher was born in 1958 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the Central Desert of Australia. She went to the local school and has completed further studies in Health at Batchelor College, Darwin. In 1995 Nola received a Department of Health Certificate of Appreciation for 10 Years Service. In her early years of her career she ran the health clinic in Nyirripi and now works for the Department of Health in Yuendumu. She was married and has three children, one daughter and two son and many grandchildren. Nola has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre in Yuendumu, since 2004. Nola paints Ngurlu Jukurrpa (Native Seed Dreaming),Karnta Jukurrpa (Women’s Dreaming), Yurrampi Jukurrpa (Honey Ant Dreaming) and Yuparli Jukurrpa (Bush Banana Dreaming) from her father’s side and Janganpa Jukurrpa (Possum Dreaming) from her mother’s side, as well as several sites that have belonged to her family for millennia. All the stories relate directly to the food, animals and features of her traditional country. Nola still regularly likes to go out with a group of women to collect these traditional foods. Nola likes to paint colourful representations of her Jukurrpa stories, stories she would like to pass down to her grandchildren. She would also like to pass down her stories to non-Aboriginal people so that they will better understand the Aboriginal ways. “When I’m on holidays I sometimes paint and sell my paintings to tourists in the city so that they will hear my stories.”

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