This painting relates to the travels of the Kungka
Kutjarra (Two Women) to a site on the south side of Lake MacDonald. The
lines in the painting represent the hair-string skirts that were worn
by the two women.
As they travelled they were digging for the small animal Kuningka (Western
Quoll). These animals usually live in burrows which are dug by other animals
such as the Burrowing Bettong or Rabbits and occasionally in hollow logs. The
women later continued their travels to the east.
PROVENANCE
Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd., Alice Springs, painted at Kintore.
Catalogue Number MN200006118
Makinti was born in the Lake MacDonald region and lived at Haasts Bluff before
Papunya was established. She began painting for Papunya Tula Artists in 1996.
Her paintings often depict designs associated with the travels of the Kungka
Kutjarra (two women). The lines that feature in her paintings represent the
hairstring-like skirts worn by the women during the ceremonies associated with
certain sites.
REPRESENTED
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Queensland Art Gallery
Museums & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory
Makinti Napanangka came to my attention in the mid nineties when the Kintore
women began to paint. I was at Papunya Tula Artists in Alice Springs and a
little painting that looked like scrambled eggs caught my eye. This painting
with its rich dabs of colour and suggestion of form and structure in a fluid
state, began my interest in Makinti's work.
Last year I staged her first solo show and it was exciting to see the developments.
In the intervening years, Makinti had almost lost her sight and a cataract
operation had restored it. The body of work she has made since is an amalgam
of line dot/dab and lately, more expressive areas.
Her picture plane swells and ebbs and is intensified with her choice of often
suprising colour combinations.
