Linda Syddick Napaltjarri

From: Apr 13, 2012
Until: Apr 30, 2012

Born in 1937 at Lake MacKay, Linda Syddick Napaltjarri (also Tjunkiya Wukula Napaltjarri) is a Pintupi speaker and was raised in the traditional way of life until she was approximately 8 or 9 years old. Her family settled at the Lutheran Mission at Haasts Bluff after walking out of the desert.
Linda's father was killed in a pay-back when she was approximately 18 month's old and she was then brought up by her step-father and acclaimed artist, Shorty Lankata Tjungurrayi. Prior to his passing away in 1985, he passed his dreamings on to Linda. From there, Linda was taught painting by two influential painters (and her uncles) Nosepeg Tjupurrula and Uta Uta Tjangala.
Having the meeting of two worlds in her life shows through her paintings which often incorporate the Tingari Dreamings and the Emu Men with the Christian influences of growing up at a Mission. The ancestral beings and Mimi spirits that are a part of the Creation story were the totem of Rintje Tjungurrayi as well as Shorty Langkata Tjungurrayi. These Tingari men went on extensive journeys giving instruction about the lore and law of the land.
Linda's country of the Lake MacKay district has been for thousands of years the meeting place of the Pintupi people. The area is very important to both male and female ceremonial sites. Many of Linda's figures appear front on and very much like the cave or rock paintings that can be found in these remote areas. Radiocarbon dating has shown these rock paintings to be at least fifteen thousand years old.
Please click on the image for some examples of the full show.