Clarise Nampijinpa Poulson, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x76cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Clarise Nampijinpa Poulson
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 3898/18
• Materials - Acrylic on linen 
• Size(cm) - H107 W76 D2
• Postage - Artwork posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The country associated with this 'ngapa Jukurrpa' (water Dreaming) is Mikanji, a watercourse west of Yuendumu that is usually dry. There are ‘mulju’ (soakages) in this creek bed. The 'kirda' (owners) of this Dreaming site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Mikanji is an important water Dreaming site, and features in at least three different water Dreaming tracks.

In one story, the water Dreaming travelled from Puyurru, northwest of Yuendumu, to a ‘mulju’ (soakage) in the Mikanji creek. It unleashed a huge storm there. Two old blind women of the Nampijinpa skin group were sitting by the side of the soakages. As the two women strained their eyes to see the sky, tears formed in their eyes, creating the rain. Their spirits can still be seen at Mikanji in the form of two ‘ngapiri’ (river red gums) growing near the soakage.

A second water Dreaming track that passes through Mikanji is also owned by the Nangala/Jangala and Nampijinpa/Jampijinpa subsections, and travels further west. At Mikanji, the storm rained so hard it created a hole in the ground which became a soakage. At Mirawarri a ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) picked up the storm and carried it on its wings to the west until it became too heavy for it. The falcon eventually dropped the storm at Pirlinyarnu (Mt. Farewell) about 165 km west of Yuendumu, where it formed an enormous ‘maluri’ (claypan). A ‘mulju’ (soakage) exists in this place today.

A third Dreaming track that passes through Mikanji is the story of the water Dreaming and ‘pamapardu Jukurrpa’ (termite Dreaming). This Dreaming travels further north. This water Dreaming is owned by Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. The termite and water Dreamings travelled together from Warntungurru in the east past Warlura (a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu), Wirnpa, Kanaralji, Ngamangama, and Jukajuka. A portion of this Dreaming track also includes the ‘kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa’ (children of the clouds Dreaming). The termite Dreaming moved on to the west to Nyirrpi, a community approximately 160 km west of Yuendumu, whereas the water Dreaming travelled on to Mikanji. A ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon) eventually picked up the water and tied it to its head using hairstring. The falcon travelled north with the water Dreaming; at Puyurru, it flew under a tree and the water fell off of its head, forming a soakage there. The Dreaming then 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), 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.

Clarise Nampijinpa Poulson was born in 1957 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. A Warlpiri speaker, Clarise lives and work in Yuendumu . Her country is Wantungurru, and she paints her father’s Jukurrpa, Dreamings which include Yankirri (Emu Dreaming), Ngapa (Water Dreaming) and Pamapardu (Flying Ant Dreaming). These stories were handed down to her by her father and his father’s father for millennia. Clarise Nampijinpa first painted for Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre in Yuendumu, in 1988, and her first solo work was shown in the ANCAA exhibition in Darwin in September 1988. She quickly distinguished herself as an outstanding artist, daring in her use of intense colour and detailed, hard -edged designs with optical gyrations. Clarice is a meticulous painter, able to vary size of dots and design elements so that each composition is individualistic. Clarise has participated in many important surveys of Aboriginal art, notable Mythscapes: Aboriginal Art of the Desert, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1989, Balance 1990, Views Visions and Influences, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1990, L'ete Australien Montpellier, Musee favre, France 1990 and the Aboriginal Women's Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1991. In 1992, she had her first solo exhibition at Hogarth Gallery in Sydney. In 1993, Clarise was awarded a Creative Arts Fellowship. She is a widow but when married she sometimes painted with her husband, Michael Japangardi Poulson (Dec). Her brother in law Neville Cobra” Japangardi Poulson is also a painter at Warlukurlangu Artists. Clarise is a very strong Baptist. Yuedumu community where she lives was originally a Baptist Mission. Clarisse has painted the stations of the cross for the local church in traditional iconography.