Ngapa Jukurrpaby Bess Napanangka Poulson

This site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu in Central Australia. In the usually dry creek beds are naturally occurring wells. The owners for this site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rain-makers, 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 from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumarlyumari blew the storm onto Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of Lightning shot out a Wirnpa (also called Mardinymardinypa) and at Kanarajli. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the 'kurdukurdu Mangkurda 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.

Artist:Bess Napanangka Poulson
Title:Ngapa Jukurrpa
ID:556-16NY
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas
Size:46 x 46 cm
Region:Yuendumu, Central Australia

Artist

Bess Napanangka Poulson was born in 1972 and comes from Yuendumu Community approximately 300km from Alice Springs in Central Australia. Bess was born into a family of artists, her mother is Mary Anne Nampijinpa Michaels and her sister is Portia Napanangka Michaels, both well-known Warlukurlangu artists. Bess attended school in Yuendumu and when she finished worked in the community before relocating to Nyirripi to be closer to her family. She began painting for Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, in 2009.

Warlukurlangu Artists provides an outlet for Warlpiri artists to paint their cultural heritage and earn income from their work. This service is extended to Nyirripi artists, on a weekly basis, by delivering canvas and paint to artists and picking up finished artwork in Nyirripi. Bess paints her mother’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the flora and fauna that inhabit it. These stories have been passed down through the generations for millennia.

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