Mitjili Napurrula | FireWorks Gallery

Artist Tabs

Selected works

FW19250

Watiya Tjuta

FW12582

Watiya Tjuta

Bio & CV

Born: c.1945 Haasts Bluff, Central Australia NT
Language: Pintupi
Country: Western Desert
Region: Ikuntji/Haasts Bluff NT

Born in 1946, Mitjili is a custodian of the Kulata (spear) tjukurrpa. Mitjili often depicts the country around Haasts Bluff (Ikunti), particularly her father’s country, Ulwalki, where the trees are found that provide the wood for spear making. Mitjili’s bold use of colour and strikingly innovative forms gained her recognition nationally and internationally, with her work being exhibited in Singapore and the US and collected by the National Gallery of Australia. Mitjili’s work is also held in private and corporate collections nationally.

Story/Statement

Mitjili’s works are characterised by bold colour and strikingly original forms. She often depicts the country around Haasts Bluff (Ikunti) in the Kintore Ranges and paints the trees that are used to make 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 her paintings the tree emerges from beneath a veil of diluted paint, applied using the dot-dot technique, giving the impression of solid colour.

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 – and considers this to be one of her most important connections to her father. The artist also paints the topography of her father's country Uwalki, with its pristine sand hills, shrubs alongside the Watiya.

MITJILI NAPURRULA

Born: c.1945 Haasts Bluff, Central Australia NT

Language: Pintupi

Country: Western Desert

Region: Ikuntji/Haasts Bluff NT

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)

2011 Eclectica I FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2006 Three Large Rooms FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2006 smartart FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2001 Galerie Knud Grothe Charlottenlund Denmark

2000 Beyond the Pale Adelaide Biennial Festival Adelaide

1999 Spirit Country: Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art　Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

1999 Haasts Bluff Artists　Original & Authentic Aboriginal Art Melbourne

1994 Hotel Shangri-la and Australian High Commission Singapore

1994 Adelaide Fringe Festival

AWARDS

1999 Alice Springs Art Award Alice Springs

1997 Finalist 14th Telstra NATSIAA

1994 Northern Territory Art Award Alice Springs

1993 Australian Heritage Award Canberra

COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of Australia Canberra

National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne

Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney

Flinders University Art Museum Adelaide

Hogarth Galleries Sydney

Artbank

Araluen Arts Centre Alice Aprings

Edith Cowen University Art Collection Perth

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin

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