Deutscher and Hackett

Commissioned by Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Private collection, Queensland
Deutscher and Hackett, Sydney, 2 December 2015, lot 185
Private collection, Melbourne

This work is accompanied by a copy of the certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists which states:

'This painting depicts designs associated with Womens Ceremonies at the rockhole and soakage water site of Ngaminya, slightly south-west of the Kiwirrkura Community in Western Australia. 

In ancestral times a group of women, represented by the small 'U' shapes, gathered at this site after travelling from further west. The women visited Ngaminya to perform the dances and sing the songs associated with the area. They also spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during these ceremonies. The comb-like shapes in this painting depict the nyimparra, while the elongated bar shapes depict the women's nulla-nullas (digging sticks). 

While at the site the women also gathered the edible berries known as kampurarrpa or desert raisin from the small shrub Solanum centrale. These berries can be eaten straight from the bush but are sometimes ground into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting represent these kampurarrpa. 

The ladies later continued their travels north east to Wirrul, Walkalkarra and Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay).'