Glen Jampijinpa Martin, Janganpa Jukurrpa (Brush-tail Possum Dreaming) - Mawurrji, 30x30cm

Janganpa Jukurrpa (common brush-tail possum [Trichosurus vulpecula] Dreaming) travels all over Warlpiri country. ‘Janganpa’ are nocturnal animals that often nest in the hollows of white gum trees (‘wapunungka’). This story comes from a big hill called Mawurrji, west of Yuendumu and north of Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs). A group of ‘janganpa’ ancestors resided there. Every night they would go out in search of food. Their hunting trips took them to Wirlki and Wanapirdi, where they found ‘pamapardu’ (flying ants). They journeyed on to Ngarlkirdipini looking for water. A Nampijinpa women was living at Mawurrji with her two daughters. She gave her daughters in marriage to a Jupurrurla ‘janganpa’ but later decided to run away with them. The Jupurrurla angrily pursued the woman. He tracked them to Mawurrji where he killed them with a stone axe. Their bodies are now rocks at this place. Warlpiri people perform a young men’s initiation ceremony, which involves the Janganpa Jukurrpa. The Janganpa Jukurrpa belongs to Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men and Nakamarra/Napurrurla women. In Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent this Jukurrpa. ‘Janganpa’ tracks are often represented as 'E' shaped figures and concentric circles are used to depict the trees in which the ‘janganpa’ live, and also the sites at Mawurrji.

Glen Jampijinpa Martin was born in Alice Springs Hospital in 1991, the closest hospital to Nyirripi, a remote aboriginal community located approximately 430 km from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is the son of Judith Nungarrayi Martin and Alistair Jangala Turner and is the grandson of Shorty Jangala Robertson (Dec), a major Warlpiri artist. Glen went to the local school in Nyirripi before attending Yirara College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. When he finished school, he returned to Nyirripi where he worked in the Outback Store.

He began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu and Nyirripi in 2016. He paints his mother’s Janganpa Jukurrpa (Bush-tail possum Dreaming), dreamings which relate directly to his land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories have been passed down to him by his mother and her mother before her for millennia. Glen enjoys working with colour using an unrestricted palette to depict his traditional iconography and his semi-abstract forms of birds that live around Nyirripi.

Glen is married to Delena Napaljarri Turner, who also paints for Warlukurlangu Art Centre. They have three children and when they are not working or painting, they enjoy going hunting for kangaroos or watching sport, particularly football on the TV or watching football live.