Alice Nampijinpa Michaels, Lappi Lappi Jukurrpa (Lappi Lappi Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Alice Nampijinpa Michaels
• Community - Nyirripi
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 151/20ny
• Materials - Acrylic on pre stretched canvas 
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5 
• Postage variants - This work is posted stretched and ready to hang
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The subject of this work is Lappi Lappi, a rock hole near Lake Hazlett, about 90 km northwest of Lake Mackay in Western Australia. The country belongs to Nampijinpa/Jampijinpa and Nangala/Jangala skin groups. Located in a sheltered basin, the rock hole at Lappi Lappi is a permanent source of water, and is surrounded by country rich in bush tucker. In the time of the Jukurrpa (Dreamtime) many mothers with young children would gather there because it was a safe place to stay. The rock hole at Lappi Lappi is home to a ‘warnayarra’, a rainbow serpent that travels underground between various rock holes. One day, women were gathered at the rock hole with their children, singing and dancing. When the ‘warnayarra’ heard the sound of voices, it travelled silently towards them, under the water. When it reached the edge of the rock hole, it rose out of the water and ate them all.

Alice Nampijinpa Michaels was born at Mt Doreen station, a cattle station about 55km west of Yuendumu, in the Northern Territory. While her father worked as a stockman on the cattle station, she and her family would hunt and gather food in the surrounding area. Occasionally, when they came across traditional Aboriginal people, Alice and her family would bring them a delivery of food, blankets and clothes. In 1946, the federal government established Yuendumu community to deliver rations and welfare services to the Aboriginal people who had been working with the Labour Corps in Alice Springs during WWII. In 1947 a Baptist mission was established there, and in the decade that followed Aboriginal people of various tribes and families from the surrounding area were forcibly relocated to Yuendumu. Alice still remembers the cattle truck that came to Mt Doreen to collect her family and many others when she was a young girl of about ten. Alice spent the remainder of her childhood at Yuendumu, attending the missionary’s school. When she was a young woman, she married her promised husband, a man significantly older than herself. To overcome her initial shyness in his company, they moved away together to Haasts Bluff, another community some 130km away, where Alice had no family. When they returned to Yuendumu, she brought back her first child, Kelly Napanagka Michaels, who also paints for Warlukurlangu Artists and lives in Yuendumu. Alice began working at Yuendumu council, but did not stay long as she quickly had a further three children. Alice now has a big mob of grandchildren. With the advent of the Northern Territory Land Rights Act in 1976, many Indigenous people who had been forced to live in communities such as Yuendumu began to move back onto their traditional lands. In 1983, Alice and her young family moved to Nyirripi, a community 160km southwest of Yuendumu, along with two other families that she had lived with at Mt Doreen. She has lived both at Nyirripi and Emu Bore, an outstation a further 15km west of Nyirripi, ever since. Alice has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2006. Alice paints her father’s country at Pirlinyanu, about 170km west of Yuendumu and her grandmother’s country Lappi Lappi, near Lake Hazlett, northwest of Lake Mackay in Western Australia. When she’s not painting she likes to go hunting with her grandchildren for goanna, bush tomatoes and sweet potato.

All paintings come with a certificate of authenticity provided by the community-run Aboriginal Art Centre, not us, which is the gold standard for ethical purchasing and documentation.

We take great pride in offering high-quality, authentic Aboriginal Art pieces to you and in addition to our 120-day returns(they don't come back), we are pleased to offer a lifetime money-back authenticity guarantee to all customers who purchase Aboriginal Art from us, both past and present.

This guarantee covers any disrepute or wrongdoing in association with the authenticity of any Aboriginal artwork ever sold by ART ARK®. We understand that purchasing authentic Aboriginal Art is important to you, and we want to provide you with peace of mind in knowing that you are getting what you expect.

We take the authenticity of Aboriginal Art seriously and are committed to providing you with high-quality and genuine works of art. If at any time you have any concerns whatsoever about the authenticity of any art piece, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will investigate further. If we find any wrongdoing or disrepute in regards to the provenance or authenticity of any artwork sold by us we will promptly provide a full refund to you at any time in the future, be it in one year, or in ten!

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All of our Desert Paintings, with the exception of the Stretched Desert Paintings Collection, are sent rolled.

Sending paintings rolled is the best option for their safe arrival and allows us to include free shipping, provide a timely service, and maintain consistent and transparent pricing relating to the prices set by each Aboriginal Art centre.

The size of the painting listed relates to the painted surface. There is also a painted edge(2cm) and additional canvas for stretching.

A local framer will easily stretch the work for you at a nominal cost. Framers are everywhere and there is likely one just up the road. We recommend choosing one with good reviews and if you call ahead you will generally get a better-quoted price than if you turn up, painting in hand.

Please find further details and examples relating to framing here: https://artark.com.au/pages/how-to-frame-your-aboriginal-art