Jocelyn Napanangka Frank, Lukarrara Jukurrpa (Desert Fringe-rush Seed Dreaming), 61x61cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Jocelyn Napanangka Frank
• Community - Yuendumu 
• Aboriginal Art centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 5548/21
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H61 W61 D2  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted unstretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This Jukurrpa belongs to women of the Nakamarra/Napurrurla subsections and to Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. This Dreaming is associated with a place called Jaralypari, north of Yuendumu. Lukarrara (desert fringe-rush [Fimbristylis oxystachya & Fimbristylis eremophila]) is a grass with an edible seed. The seeds are traditionally ground on a large stone (‘ngatinyanu’) with a smaller stone (‘ngalikirri’) to make flour. This flour is mixed with water (‘ngapa’) to make damper cakes which are cooked and eaten. In Warlpiri traditional paintings iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. Large concentric circles often represent the site of Jaralypari and also the seed bearing grass Lukurrara. ‘U’ shapes can depict the Karnta (women) collecting ‘lukarrara’ and straight lines are frequently used to portray seeds that fall down to the ground and are also collected by women using their ‘parrajas’ (wooden food carriers) and ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks).

Jocelyn Napanangka Frank was born in 1986 in Mt Allan, a remote Aboriginal community 280 km northwest of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Linny Frank and grand-daughter of Frank Japanangka, the keeper of the Yuelamu site and leading figure in the Mount Allan community. Jocelyn attended the local school in Mount Allan. She is a single parent and has one son, born in 2007. She also looks after her mother, Linny. Jocelyn has always liked painting, and began painting music sticks and coolamons. She has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs, since 2010. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her father and her father’s father before her for millennia. When she is not painting she is looking after her young son or visiting Yuendumu where she drops off finished art work and collects canvas, paint and brushes. She also likes to shop at the local store when she is in Yuendumu.