Tjunkiya Napaltjarri's striking paintings reveal forms as colour is scratched away from the surface, a method unique amongst Papunya Tula Artists, and shared only by Johnny Yungut Tjupurrula. Tjunkiya began painting for Papunya Tula Artists in the late 1990s.
Until 2004, Tjunkiya painted with her sister Wintjiya Napaltjarri at the Papunya Tula Artists shed in Kintore but from 2004 until her death in 2009, she painted from her home: the widow's camp outside her "son" Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula's former residence.
“I’m thinking about Umari, Tjukurrpa (the dreaming), when I’m painting, it’s my mother’s country. My mother and father, I’ve lost them, poor things. As I paint they are always in my mind. I am remembering them and olden times when we were at Umari.
When I paint I feel happy, I don’t feel sick, I don’t feel any pain. I feel strong and healthy, like I am a young girl again.
Before, I dotted my canvas like the other painting ladies. Now I put the paint on my own way. Like this [gesturing], with two sticks, I push and scratch the colour on. “
There have been a number of solo exhibitions of Tjunkiya's paintings and her work can be found in national and international collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia and the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris..
Collections
National Gallery of Australia
Araluen Collection (Alice Springs)
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Campbelltown City Art Gallery
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
National Gallery of Victoria
Supreme Court of the Northern Territory
Artbank
Exhibitions
Minyma Tjukurrpa`, 1995.
`Twenty-five Years and Beyond`, 1999.
`PAPUNYA TULA Genesis and Genius`, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2000.
