Joan Loomoo Nampitjinpa

Kingfisher Dreaming at Namalu

2002

This painting represents the story of an ancestral Kingfisher bird who traveled south from this place, called Namalu. The Kingfisher stopped regularly and created rockholes. The sinuous lines in this painting represent the cliff face at Balgo, where the bird began its journey.

Language Groups: Kukatja and Pintupi
Date: Born 1971

Joan Loomoo Nampitjinpa was born at Balgo in 1971, the third child of acclaimed artist Lucy Loomoo and a member of the famed Loomoo family that painted at Balgo. Joan was placed in the mission dormitory while her mother worked as a gardener in the community. She later married Kanya Tjapangati.

JOAN LOOMOO NAMPITJINPA, Kingfisher Dreaming at Namalu, 2002

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 24 × 21 5/8 in. (61 × 55 cm). Commissioned by Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter for Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past and Present Together.

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