MITJILI NAPURRULA (1946 - 2019)
Hand Signed, Original Acrylic On Canvas
(Haasts Bluff Region - 200km West of Alice Springs)
Title: Watiya Tjuta (Acacia Tree)
Image Size: 110cm x 97cm
Signed: Verso
Condition: Excellent - New
Stretched and Ready to Hang.
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from Martinez Art Dealer.
You can also come view this work and many others in our Surry Hills Gallery in Sydney. Please message me to arrange a time to view in person.
Serafin Martinez
Principal, Martinez Art Dealer
Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia
ABN 36 561 407 649
Mitjili Napurrula was a Pintupi woman born at Haasts Bluff around 1946. Her family is one of great importance in the Aboriginal community of Papunya.
Mitjili was married to artist Long Tom Tjapanangka. Long Tom won the prestigious 1999 16th NATSIAA Telstra Art Award and also gave her the motif of the Irantji ranges Mitjili incorporated into her later paintings.
Mitjili first began painting in 1993 for the Ikuntji Women's Centre. Mitjili paints the female side to her father's Dreaming, which is the story of the spear straightening ceremony as taught to her by her mother. Mitjili also paints the topography of her father's country Uwalki, with its pristine sand hills, shrubs and Watiya, which are the trees that traditionally provide wood for spears.
The most prominent theme in Mitjili's painting concerns the Watiya Tjuta (Acacia trees), which relate to men's business, and her recurring tree motif is based on patterns her mother used to draw in the sand. In Mitjili's paintings the tree emerges from beneath a veil of diluted paint, applied using the dot-dot technique, giving the impression of solid colour.
Mitjili passed away in April 2019.
