Walangkura Napanangka (Johnny Yungut's wife)

Marrapinti

2006

The roundels in this painting represent the rockholes at Marrapinti. In the Tjukurrpa, a large group of ancestral women gathered at Marrapinti during their travels east. While there, they made nose bones, which are called Marrapinti. Nose bones are a form of body ornamentation in which the nose web is pierced and a narrow bone is inserted. They were originally worn by both men and women but they are now only worn by the older generation during ceremonies.

Language Group: Pintupi
Dates: 1946-2015

Born at Tjitururrnga west of Kintore, Walangkura was the daughter of Rartji Tjapangati, an important custodian of the country west of Lake Macdonald, and Inyuwa Nampitjinpa. Growing up on the move, Walangkura’s family group joined Uta Uta Tjangala’s group before arriving at Haasts Bluff in 1956. Walangkura first painted for the Haasts Bluff/Kintore Women’s Painting Camp in the winter of 1994, and she began exhibiting her bold and energetic work with Papunya Tula Artists in 1996. Her artwork depicts the Dreamings for the country around Kintore, and she was one of Papunya Tula’s most senior and sought-after painters. The wife of Johnny Yungut Tjupurrula, she is survived by six grown-up children and her ties to the Haasts Bluff, Tjukurla, Pulpa, and Tjilana communities.

WALANGKURA NAPANANGKA (Johnny Yungut's Wife), Marrapinti, 2006

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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