DEBRA YOUNG NAKAMARRA

Debra Young Nakamarra is the eldest daughter of Pintupi artists Walangkura Napanangka and Johnny Yungut Tjupurrula. Debra was born at Papunya in 1964 and later moved to Kintore community.

 

Nakamarra began painting in 1984, under the guidance of their mother who taught them their Dreaming stories. While there are motifs that resemble those in her mother’s work, Nakamarra has also made use of bolder and sometimes unexpected colours. Her depictions are culturally significant for Pintupi women, and the subject matter depicts her mother’s Country, and the Dreamings associated with certain sites.

Debra paints sacred women’s places, in particular the geographical features of the Western Desert around Kiwirrkurra and Papunya. They show the rock holes, sand hills and caves.

 

This painting depicts designs associate with the rockhole, and cave site of Tjintjintjin, to the west of the Kintore Commjunity in Western Australia, and tell the tale of an old woman, Kutungka Napanangka, who travelled through the region. The lines represent the tali (sandhills), and the roundels the rockholes. The small circles represent the berries she collected on the way. On her travels it’s said she was accosted by a group of boys who she chased. Catching all bu the main culprit, she cooked them in a fire, before moving on to Kaltarra where she entered the earth.