Marrapinti, from the suite Tjukurrpa Palurukutu, Kutjupawana Palyantjanya - same stories, a new way

In addition to showcasing the quality of Papunya Tula Artists as a whole, this suite of etchings emphasises the strength of each individual artist as they successfully translate their Tjukurrpa to the new medium of printmaking. Far from being a mere copy of their paintings in a different scale and medium each artists adapts their visual language to this new process with apparent ease, resulting in bold, confident works that are extraordinary in themselves, and when combined as a suite, are truly amazing.

The art centre documentation for this work states:

This etching depicts designs associated with the rockhole and soakage water site of Marrapinti, to the west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia. The lines in the etching represent tali (sandhills) surrounding the site. In ancestral times a group of women of the Nangala and Napangati kinship subsections travelled to Marrapinti to perform the dances and sing the songs associated with the area. While at the site the women made nose bones, also known in Pintupi as marrapinti, which are worn through a hole made in the nose web. These nose bones were originally used by both men and women but are now only inserted by the older generation on ceremonial occasions. The women later continued east passing through Wala Wala, Ngaminya and Wirrulnga, before travelling north to Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay).