Agnes Nampijinpa Fry, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Puyurru, 152x107cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Agnes Nampijinpa Fry
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 5420/21
• Materials - Acrylic on linen 
• Size(cm) - H152 W107 D2 
• Postage variants - Artwork is posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are ‘mulju’ (soakages), or naturally occurring wells. The 'kirda' (owners) for this site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. The storm travelled across the country from the east to the west, initially travelling with a ‘pamapardu Jukurrpa’ (termite Dreaming) from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumariyumari blew the storm on to Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of lightning shot out at Wirnpa (also called Mardinymardinypa) and at Kanaralji. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the ‘kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa’ (children of the clouds Dreaming). The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama using baby clouds and also stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today as rock formations.

The termite Dreaming eventually continued west to Nyirripi, a community approximately 160 km west of Yuendumu. The water Dreaming then travelled from the south over Mikanji, a watercourse with soakages northwest of Yuendumu. At Mikanji, the storm was picked up by a ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) and taken farther north. At Puyurru, the falcon dug up a giant ‘warnayarra’ (rainbow serpent). The serpent carried water with it to create another large lake, Jillyiumpa, close to an outstation in this country. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this story are Jangala men and Nangala women. After stopping at Puyurru, the water Dreaming 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). 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 bed.

Agnes Nampijinpa Fry was born in 1965 in Yuendumu, a remote community located 290kms north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Agnes was schooled in Yuendumu and still lives there today. She is married to Stephen Jakamarra Walker, the son of the famous Warlpiri artist Liddy Napanangka Walker. They have four children, Lesley, Braden, Sinella and Trevor. Their eldest son lives in Papunya and their eldest daughter lives at Mt Liebig, originally an outstation of Papunya but now a small community in its own rights. Their two youngest children still go to school. Agnes has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2006. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings relating directly to her land, its features and animals. These stories were passed down to her by her father and her grandfather and their fathers for millennia. When Agnes is not painting she likes to go hunting for bush tucker, particularly Bush Currants. When she has the opportunity she also likes to travel to Papunya and Mt Liebig to see her daughter and son.