Geraldine Nangala Gallagher, Yankirri Jukurrpa - Ngarna, 30x30cm

• Artist - Geraldine Nangala Gallagher
• Community - Nyirripi  
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 371/17ny   
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas  
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang

Men of the Jampijinpa/Jangala skin groups and women of the Nampijinpa/Nangala skin groups are the ‘kirda’ (custodians) for the Emu Yankirri Jukurrpa (emu Dreaming) at Ngarna. Ngarna is an important men’s ceremonial place and much of the story is kept secret from the uninitiated. Emus survive on a diet of native vegetation found in the area, including the ‘yakajirri’ (bush currant [Solanum centrale]) and ‘mukaki’ (plumbush [Santalum lanceolatum]).In Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa and other elements. This painting depicts Yankirri going to the Ngarna site, leaving the water hole after having a drink of water. Ngarna is located to the south of Yuendumu.

Geraldine Nangala Gallagher comes from Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal community located approx. 440 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation; an Aboriginal owned and governed Art Centre, in 2010. Warlukurlangu Artists is located in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. Since 2005 Warlukurlangu has dropped off canvas and paint for artists in Nyirripi. Geraldine continued to paint through the art centre until 2013, when she moved to Alice Springs.

Geraldine mainly paints her parent’s  Jukurrpa, in particular Watiya-warnu Jukurrpa (Seed Dreaming)and Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming). These dreamings relate directly to the land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They were passed down to her parents and their parents before them for millennia.  Geraldine uses traditional designs and icons with an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.