Watiya Juta

Mitjila Napurrula - Watiya Juta is an inspiring art exhibition showcasing works that portray stories relating to the ancient Aboriginal ritual of the spear-straightening ceremony, Mitchell Fine Art, April 4 – 28.

The gallery continues its support of notable Indigenous artists, with Napurrula being a Pintupi artist from Central Australia. The title, Watiya Juta, means the Desert Acacia, which is the source material for spear-making and the central motif in her father’s dreaming – the story of the spear-straightening ceremony. It’s an important Dreaming story dealing with tribal rivalries, rituals and the process of spears being made for battle.

The paintings’ brightly coloured patterns show the iconography of the trees with the recurring tree motif, ‘Watiya’, red sandhills and rocks of her father’s country (Uwalki), which is west of Central Australia’s Haasts Bluff. The figurative and topographical elements are applied in bright, vibrant hues on a translucent veil of white – something which reflects Napurrula’s own style and playful personality.

The artist hails from a very artistic family, with her mother being one of the principal female artists at Kintore in the Western Desert and her brother helping to found the Papunya Tula Artists cooperative. Napurrula received tutelage from her mother and started to paint the female side to her father’s dreaming in 1993.

Make sure you go and see these wonderful paintings from an artist whose works are part of numerous international and national collections, including state and national galleries.

Need to know - A free floor talk on the life and artistic practice of Mitjili Napurrula will be held in the gallery with Director Mike Mitchell on Saturday, April 7, at 2pm.

VIEW THE ARTWORKS

By Vicki Englund

Mitchell Fine Art is a valued partner of Must Do Brisbane.com