Desphina Nampijinpa Brown, Karnta Jukurrpa (Womens Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Artist - Desphina Nampijinpa Brown
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 2515-16  
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas  
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted pre-stretched and ready to hang

This painting depicts Nakamarra and Napurrurla women hunting for bush foods. The ‘kirda’ (owners) for this story are Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. Yumurrpa and Wapurtali are two major Dreaming sites owned by the Nakamarra/Jakamarra and Napurrurla/Jupurrurla subsections; these sites are also associated with bush food Dreamings. Yumurrpa is a major waterhole to the northwest of Yuendumu and a ‘yarla’ (bush potato [Ipomea costata]) Dreaming site. The area north of Wapurtali/Yintaramurru (Mt. Singleton) is a ‘wanakiji’ (bush tomato [Solanum chippendalei]) Dreaming site.

Warlpiri women hunt for a number of different bush foods at different times of the year. These include ‘ngarlkirdi’ (witchetty grubs [Endoxyla leucomochla larvae]), ‘yunkaranyi’ (honey ants [Camponotus inflatus]), ‘jintiparnta’ and ‘purlantarri’ (desert truffle [Elderia arenivaga]), ‘yuparli’ (bush bananas [Marsdenia australis]), ‘janmarda’ (bush onions [Cyperus bulbosus]), ‘pirlala’ (bush beans [Acacia coriacea seeds]), ‘ngarlajiyi’ (bush carrots [Vigna lanceolata]), ‘wayipi’ (small bush carrots [Boerhavia diffusa]), and ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisins [Solanum centrale]). Women traditionally dug for these foods using wooden ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks). The end of the digging sticks were charred and ground on a stone surface to create a bevelled edge. Today many Warlpiri women use crowbars (also called ‘karlangu’) to dig for bush foods. Collected bush foods are traditionally carried in ‘parraja’ (coolamons), which can be carried with a strap made from the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine [Tinospora smilacina]).

In Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa and other elements. Concentric circles are often used to represent the bush foods that the women have collected, while straight lines can be used to depict the ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks). Sinuous lines are often used to represent the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine).

Desphina Nampijinpa Brown was born in 1996 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal community located approximately 440 km north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. She is the grand-daughter of Margaret Napangardi Brown (Dec) and niece to Joy Nangala Brown, both Warlukurlangu artists. Desphina has grown up most of her life in Nyirripi, first attending the local school then moving to Alice Springs where she attended Yirara College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. When she finished school she returned to Nyirripi.

She began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu. Warlukurlangu makes regular visits to Nyirripi to drop off canvas, paint and brushes for the artists and to collect finished artwork. When Desphina was young she would watch her grandmother paint and listen to her stories. Since returning to Nyirripi family members have encouraged her to paint. She paints her Grandmother’s Mina Mina Jukurrpa, stories that relate to her country, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories have been passed down through the generations for a least 50 millennia.

When Despina is not painting she loves to play softball and basketball and travel to other communities to watch the Sport Carnivals.  After the Carnival season she likes to go hunting for witchetty grubs and honey ants.

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