Mickaela Napangardi Lankin, Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming) - Warntungurru, 122x46cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Mickaela Napangardi Lankin
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 1884/22
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H122 W46 D2 
• Postage variants - Artwork is posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This painting depicts the Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming) from Wapurtali, west of Yuendumu. 'Pamapardu' is the Warlpiri name for the flying ants or termites that build the large anthills found throughout Warlpiri country. This country belongs to Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. 'Pamapardu' are flying ants. They build earth mounds (‘mingkirri’) that are common in the Tanami area. When heavy rains come in summer the ‘mingkirri’ get flooded out, so the ‘pamapardu’ grow wings and fly off to make new homes, following their queens to dry mounds or to build a new. When they have found their new home they drop their wings. In this stage they can be collected, lightly cooked in coals and eaten. As they fall to the ground women collect them to eat because they are nice and sweet. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. When this Jukurrpa story is painted concentric circles are used to represent the ‘mingkirri’ and the rockholes involved in the story, including the central one at Wapurtali (Mt Singleton). Dashes are often depicted around the circles to represent the ‘pamapardu’.

Mickaela Napangardi Lankin was born in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in NT of Australia. She began her education at her local school, then attended Yirara College in Alice Springs, a boarding school for indigenous students. She now lives in Yuendumu with her family and young son.

Mickaela began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu in 2019. She paints her Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming) – Ngalyipi and Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming) – Warntungurru, stories relating directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They have been passed down through the generations for millennia. She uses an unrestricted palette, blending her own patterns with ancestral motifs to depict her traditional Jukurrpa.

When she is not painting, she spends time with her family.