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Biography
:
Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa (aka, Mrs. Bennett) born around 1935, is an
important artist represented by
Art Gallery of New South Wales - Sydney,
Artbank Sydney;
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern
Territory
Darwin;
National Gallery of Victoria - Melbourne as well as many corporate and private
collections in Australia and around the world. Nyurapayia was a
participant in the Kintore-Haasts Bluff collaborative canvas project in
1994. This resulted in an exhibition titled Minyma Tjukurrpa and
was held at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute in 1995.
Other exhibitions of her works include ‘Twenty-five Years and Beyond’
(1999) and Australia Perspective (1999). Nyurapayia favors the use of
strong contrasts using blacks and pale yellows/creams set in relief
against a red ground. Her designs are based on the stories relating to
women’s ceremony and often depict the gathering of traditional bush
foods and the rituals that are connected with their preparation. The
depictions of the sand dune country and surrounding rocky outcrops bear
a relationship to the designs used for body painting during the
ceremonial dance referred to as “inma”.
Birthsite: Yumara which is
to the north of Docker River in Western Australia.
Language/Tribal Group:
Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara.
Historical:
Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa aka, Mrs Bennett is married to the late John John
Tjapangati Bennett, a Pintupi speaker from Mukulurru, also north of
Docker River.
Painting:
Nyurapayia was a participant in the Kintore-Haasts Bluff collaborative
canvas project in 1994. This resulted in an exhibition titled Minyma
Tjukurrpa and was held at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural
Institute in 1995. Other exhibitions of her works include ‘Twenty-five
Years and Beyond’ (1999) and Australia Perspecta (1999). Nyurapayia
favours the use of strong contrasts using blacks and pale yellows/creams
set in relief against a red ground. Her designs are based on the stories
relating to women’s ceremony and often depict the gathering of
traditional bush foods and the rituals that are connected with their
preparation. The depictions of the sand dune country and surrounding
rocky outcrops bear a relationship to the designs used for body painting
during the ceremonial dance referred to as “inma".
Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa born around 1935, lives in Kintore and has
developed a very free and original style in contrast to artists in
Kintore who prefer the very precise dot-painting method. Her painting
shows often women camped at the rockhole site of Yumarra, near Tjukula
in Western Australia. The roundels show the camp sites of the women who
had travelled from Punkilpirri, a large permanent water site, north-west
of Docker River in the Walter James Range. They later continued their
travels to the north through Tjukula and Tjalili. While at Yumarra the
women performed the ceremonies associated with the area. They also
gathered the edible berries and seeds growing in the vicinity. The "U"
shapes in this painting show women camped at the rockhole site of
Yumarra, south of the large permanent warter site of Punkilpirri, north
of Docker River. The women later travelled north to Punkilpirri and
Tjukula. As they travelled they gathered the edible berries known as
kampurarrpa or desert raisin from the small shrub Solanum centrale. The
roundels show the camp sites of the women who had travelled from
Punkilpirri, a large permanent water site, north-west of Docker River in
the Walter James Range. They continued their travels to the north
through Tjukula and Tjalili. While at Yumarra the women performed the
ceremonies associated with the area. They also gathered the edible
berries and seeds growing in the vicinity.
COLLECTIONS :
Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa aka,
Mrs Bennett work is represented by the Australian
National Gallery of Victoria; Flinders University Art Museum Victoria;
Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney as well as important
private and corporate collection around the world.
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