Samara Napaljarri Dickson, Watiya-warnu Jukurrpa (Seed Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Samara Napaljarri Dickson
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 1867/22
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas 
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5 
• Postage variants - This work is posted pre-stretched and ready to hang
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This painting tells the story of a Jangala ‘watiya-warnu’ (Acacia tenuissima) ancestor who travelled south from a small hill called Ngurlupurranyangu to Yamunturrngu (Mount Liebig). As he travelled he picked the ‘watiya-warnu’ seeds and placed them in ‘parrajas’ (food carriers), one of which he carried on his head. Watiya-warnu is a seed bearing tree that grows in open spinifex or mulga country. When people returned to their camp after collecting the seeds they would make large windbreaks for shelter and winnow the seed in the late afternoon. Immature ‘watiya-warnu’ seed is ground into a paste and can be used to treat upset stomachs. The associated ‘watiya-warnu’ ceremony involves the preparation of a large ground painting. This Jukurrpa belongs to Nampijinpa/Nangala women and Jampijinpa/Jangala men. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. In paintings of this Dreaming ‘U’ shapes are often depicting women collecting the ‘watiya-warnu’ seeds. Oval shapes represent the ‘parrajas’ where they carry the seeds and strait lines beside them frequently portrait digging sticks.

Samara Napaljarri Dickson was born in 1987 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Alan Jungarrayi Dickson and Jean Napananga Brown and the granddaughter of Belle Nakamarra Dickson. She has one sister. Samara went to the local school before going to Alice Springs to attend Yirara College, a boarding school for Indigenous students. When she completed Year 10 she went to Port Pirie and Districts Aboriginal Community Centre (Nukunka), an adult community education, including computer classes, cooking, Arts and crafts. When she finished her studies, she returned to Yuendumu where she worked with the Old Peoples Program and later the Mt Theo Program. She is married to Andy Cook and they have four children.

Samara began painting with the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, in 2007. She paints her dad’s Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming), Ngalyipi Jukurrpa (Snake Vine Dreaming), Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) and Warna Jukurrpa (Snake Dreaming).  She occasionally paints her Aunty’s Kanta Jukurrpa (Bush Coconut Dreaming) and her Mum’s Watiya-warnu Jukurrpa (Seed Dreaming). These ‘dreamings’ relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her family and their parents before them for millennia.She uses colour and patterns which she creatively combines to blend traditional motifs with her own ideas of modern design to represent her country.

“It is fun painting at the centre”.