Petra Nampitjinpa
Walpiri people NT b.1966
Bush Fire Dreaming 1987
Acrylic on canvas
213 x 230 cm
BCEC Art Collection
Petra Nampitjinpa was born in Papunya. Her father, Old Paddy Tjangala, was an important figure in the community. Petra started painting at Mount Liebig around 1980 or 1981 and is among the first wave of women artist to begin painting in the Western Desert art style. Like many of these pioneering women, her paintings hold an intensity of design that reflects the influence of batik making, which many women were engaged in prior to painting.
The Bush Fire Dreaming at Mount Liebig tells of a huge bush fire that began at Warlukurlangu, west of Yuendemu. It swept through Mount Liebig in the south-west, and continued for hundreds of kilometers to Amata in South Australia. The central roundel is the site of the Dreaming, with radiating lines indicating the path of the fire. The ‘U’ shapes are two men of the Tjangala kinship subsection who started the fire. Concentric circles indicate the evening star and background colours and patterns represent vegetation.
Bush Fire Dreaming can be viewed in Plaza Gallery.