Selina Nakamarra Gorey, Karnta Jukurrpa (Womens Dreaming), 30x30cm

This painting depicts Nakamarra and Napurrurla women hunting for bush foods. The ‘kirda’ (owners) for this story are Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. Yumurrpa and Wapurtali are two major Dreaming sites owned by the Nakamarra/Jakamarra and Napurrurla/Jupurrurla subsections; these sites are also associated with bush food Dreamings. Yumurrpa is a major waterhole to the northwest of Yuendumu and a ‘yarla’ (bush potato [Ipomea costata]) Dreaming site. The area north of Wapurtali/Yintaramurru (Mt. Singleton) is a ‘wanakiji’ (bush tomato [Solanum chippendalei]) Dreaming site.

Warlpiri women hunt for a number of different bush foods at different times of the year. These include ‘ngarlkirdi’ (witchetty grubs [Endoxyla leucomochla larvae]), ‘yunkaranyi’ (honey ants [Camponotus inflatus]), ‘jintiparnta’ and ‘purlantarri’ (desert truffle [Elderia arenivaga]), ‘yuparli’ (bush bananas [Marsdenia australis]), ‘janmarda’ (bush onions [Cyperus bulbosus]), ‘pirlala’ (bush beans [Acacia coriacea seeds]), ‘ngarlajiyi’ (bush carrots [Vigna lanceolata]), ‘wayipi’ (small bush carrots [Boerhavia diffusa]), and ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisins [Solanum centrale]). Women traditionally dug for these foods using wooden ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks). The end of the digging sticks were charred and ground on a stone surface to create a bevelled edge. Today many Warlpiri women use crowbars (also called ‘karlangu’) to dig for bush foods. Collected bush foods are traditionally carried in ‘parraja’ (coolamons), which can be carried with a strap made from the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine [Tinospora smilacina]).

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, while straight lines can be used to depict the ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks). Sinuous lines are often used to represent the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine).

Selena Nakamarra Gorey was born on the 7 June 1973 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. When she was little she lived in Papunya with her mother and father. In the early 80s her father died and shortly after that she moved to Yuendumu with her mother, Dadu Nungarrayi Gorey, a well-known artist who first joined the Warlukurlangu Artists in 1987.

In the early years Selena use to watch her mother paint and later paint with her at home. In 2006, when she was in her early 30s, she began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu. She paints her mother’s Karnta Jukurrpa (Women’s Dreaming) and her father’s Warna Jukurrpa (Snake Dreaming), stories that relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They were passed down to her by her parents and their parents before them for millennia. She uses traditional iconology and an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

When both Selena and her mother Dadu first joined the Warlukurlangu Artists, they not only painted with the art centre but worked in the art centre as cleaners and childcarers. Today, Selena still continues her cleaning duties. As well as her mother, she has sons and a daughter living in Yuendumu and belongs to a “big mob now”.