Wintjiya Napaltjarri (1932 - 2014)

WATANUMA, 2004

synthetic polymer paint on linen

168.0 x 46.0 cm

bears inscription verso: artist's name, size and Papunya Tula Artists cat. WN0404012

Painted at Kintore, Northern Territory in 2004
Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs
Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
Private collection, Melbourne
Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne, 27 March 2013, Lot 66
Private collection, Melbourne

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, which states:

‘The circles in this painting depict rockholes and soakage water sites at the claypan site of Watanuma, north-west of the Kintore community. A group of women, represented by the ‘U’ shapes, camped at this site before travelling to the rockhole site of Malparingya and continuing east to Pinari, also north-west of Kintore. While at Watanuma they made spun hair-string for making hair-string skirts which are worn during ceremonies. The lines in the work represent the hair-string. They also gathered seeds known as mungilypa or samphire from the small fleshy-shrub Tecticornia verrucose. These seeds are ground into a paste which is cooked in the coals to form a type of unleavened bread.’