CONTEMPORARY ART STOCKROOM Kasey-Anne Nampijinpa Gallagher

Kasey-Anne Nampijinpa Gallagher was born in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Nyirripi, originally an outstation of Yuendumu but now a small community, 440 km west of Alice Springs in Northern Territory. She is the daughter of Sabrina Nungarrayi Gibson and Duncan Gallagher and has one sister and two brothers. Her grandmother is Mary Napangardi Gallagher, an established artist with Warlukurlangu Artists. Kasey-Anne went to the local Nyirripi school, followed by Kormilda College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Darwin. When she returned to Nyirripi she worked for the Council Office.

Kasey-Anne began painting with Warlukurlangu in 2014. When she was growing up she watched her grandma paint and listened to her stories. “I really wanted to paint . . . I am happy painting.” She paints her father’s Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming), stories that have been passed down to her by her parents and their parents before them for millennia. She uses traditional shapes and an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture. When she is not painting, she likes to visit family in Yuendumu; go hunting with family and friends; and play softball.

The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are ‘mulju’ (soakages), or naturally occurring wells. The ‘kirda’ (owners) for this site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. The storm travelled across the country from the east to the west, initially travelling with a ‘pamapardu Jukurrpa’ (termite Dreaming) from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumariyumari blew the storm on to Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of lightning shot out at Wirnpa (also called Mardinymardinypa) and at Kanaralji. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the ‘kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa’ (children of the clouds Dreaming). The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama using baby clouds and also stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today as rock formations.

The termite Dreaming eventually continued west to Nyirripi, a community approximately 160 km west of Yuendumu. The water Dreaming then travelled from the south over Mikanji, a watercourse with soakages northwest of Yuendumu. At Mikanji, the storm was picked up by a ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) and taken farther north. At Puyurru, the falcon dug up a giant ‘warnayarra’ (rainbow serpent). The serpent carried water with it to create another large lake, Jillyiumpa, close to an outstation in this country. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this story are Jangala men and Nangala women. After stopping at Puyurru, the water Dreaming travelled on through other locations including Yalyarilalku, Mikilyparnta, Katalpi, Lungkardajarra, Jirawarnpa, Kamira, Yurrunjuku, and Jikaya before moving on into Gurindji country to the north.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming). Short dashes are often used to represent ‘mangkurdu’ (cumulus & stratocumulus clouds), and longer, flowing lines represent ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters). Small circles are used to depict ‘mulju’ (soakages) and river bed.

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Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) 3403/19ny 2019
acrylic on canvas, unstretched
30cm x 61cm
$500 AUD

Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) 3684/19ny 2019
acrylic on canvas
61cm x 122cm
$1,250 AUD