Wirrulngu

Acrylic on canvas.

Ningurra Napurrula's works depict designs associated with the rockhole sites of Palturunya and Wirrulnga, east of the Kiwirrkura Community (Mt. Webb) in Western Australia. The concentric circles represent rockholes and the arcs represent Mimi, or the design painted with ochre on the breasts. The U shapes represent women camped at the site with wana (digging stick) and coolamon bowl (oval shape). Ningurra depicts the mythological events of her ancestors. Her artwork focuses on the travels of her female ancestors, the sacred sites that they passed, and the mythological significance of the bush tucker that they collected. In mythological times, one old woman, Katunga Napanangka, passed through this site during her travels towards the east. Ningurra Napurrula is hailed as being one of the most prominent Australian Indigenous artists, and her work is featured in the permanent collects of Musée du quai Branly in Paris, France.