Maria Nampijinpa Brown, Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa (Seven Sisters Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Maria Nampijinpa Brown
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 9583/22
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5
• Postage variants - Artwork posted rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa (seven sisters Dreaming) depicts the story of the seven ancestral Napaljarri sisters who are found in the night sky today in the cluster of seven stars in the constellation Taurus, more commonly known as the Pleiades. The Pleiades are seven women of the Napaljarri skin group and are often depicted in paintings of this Jukurrpa carrying the Jampijinpa man ‘wardilyka’ (the bush turkey [Ardeotis australias]) who is in love with the Napaljarri-warnu and who represents the Orion's Belt cluster of stars. Jukurra-jukurra, the morning star, is a Jakamarra man who is also in love with the seven Napaljarri sisters and is often shown chasing them across the night sky. In a final attempt to escape from the Jakamarra the Napaljarri-warnu turned themselves into fire and ascended to the heavens to become stars. The custodians of the Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa are Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men and Napaljarri/Nungarrayi women. Some parts of the Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa are closely associated with men’s sacred ceremonies of a very secretive nature. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. Often depicted in paintings for this Jukurrpa is the female star Yantarlarangi (Venus - the Evening Star) who chases the seven Napaljarri sisters for having stolen the night from her.

Maria Nampijinpa Brown was born in 1973 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community, 290 km from Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Wendy Nungarrayi Brown and grand-daughter of Paddy Japaljarri Sims (Dec) one of the founding artists of Warlukurlangu Artists and Bessie Nakamarra Sims (Dec), a successful artist in her own right. When she was little she would watch her mother and her grandparents paint and listen to their stories. She is widowed, lives in Yuendumu and has two daughters, Antoinette Napanangka Brown who also paints with the art centre and Alicka Napanangka Brown. Maria has been painting with the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre, since 1995. She paints her parents and her grandparents Jukurrpa stories, stories that have been passed down through the generations for millennia. These stories relate to the artists traditional country northwest of Nyirirpi, a settlement 160 kms west of Yuendumu. Maria uses traditional iconography, while developing a modern individualistic style to depict her traditional Jukurrpa. When Maria is not painting she likes to tell stories to her grandchildren, hunt for honey ants when it is raining, and collect firewood for cooking kangaroo tails.