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Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm
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  • Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
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Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm - ART ARK®

Crystal Nungarrayi Morris, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 76x61cm

$535.00

Original Work of Art (they all are!)

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  • Aboriginal Artist - Crystal Nungarrayi Morris
  • Community - Yuendumu  
  • Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
  • Catalogue number - 1343/23ny
  • Materials - Acrylic paint on linen 
  • Size(cm) - H76 W61 D2  
  • Postage variants - 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.

Crystal Nungarrayi Morris was born 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 Hamilton Morris and Nancy Napurrurla Dickson, an artist who also works with Warlukurlangu Artists. Crystal attended the local school in Yuendumu that attended Yarara College, in Alice Springs. After school Crystal returned to Yuendumu where she met her future husband. They are married and have two children, a daughter and son and also grandchildren. They now live in Nyirripi, a community 160 km north-west of Yuendumu. Crystal has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2005. Her grandmother, Valerie Napurrurla Morris, also paints for Warlukurlangu Aratists, and it was Valerie that Crystal watched when she was little. She loves painting as it “keeps me busy and I like the patterns and designs belonging to my family’s Jukurrpa, Dreamings which relate directly to my land, its features and animals”. She uses an unrestricted palette, experimenting with colour to develop a modern interpretation of her family’s traditional culture. When Crystal is not painting she loves to go out hunting for goanna and for bush tucker.