MITJILI NAPURRULA - Watiya 162x250cm

Artist: Mitjili Napurrula 

Size: 162cm x 250cm

Original framed indigenous art acrylic on canvas, 2017.

The artwork is stretched and ready to hang.

Comes with Certificate of Authenticity

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MITJILI NAPURRULA 

Mitjili Napurrula was born at Papunya, 200 kilometres West of Alice Springs. Like many of her generation, Mitjili witnessed the genesis of the Papunya Tula art movement Mitjili grew up in Papunya and moved to Haasts Bluff with her late husband Long Tom Tjapanangka in the late 1980’s during the outstation movement. The couple started painting at Ikuntji in 1992 with the opening of the Ikuntji Women’s Centre, both contributing significantly to the emerging art movement there. She gained an international following after winning the Alice Springs Art Prize in 1999. Mitjili and her brother, Tjupurrula had the same father, Tupa Tjakamarra, from whom they both inherited the right to paint works related to Ilyingaungau.

She paints the topography of her father’s country Uwalki, with sand hills and trees called Watiya that have traditionally been 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 Mitjil's paintings, the tree emerges from beneath a veil of diluted paint, applied using the dot-dot technique, giving the impression of solid colour. Other Dreaming’s Mitjili inherited include Wangunu or Portulaca (small black seeds ground and used to make damper), as well as Arkatjirri, a fruit similar to a sultana that is found in the bush. A large body of her work includes vibrant reds, yellows and browns, which serve to communicate the essence of flowers, many of her works being primarily concerned with their symbolic simplified Interpretation.