Maxie Tjanpitjinpa
Warlpiri people NT c.1945-1997
Flying Ants
Acrylic on canvas
213.5 x 262 cm
BCEC Art Collection
Maxie Tjampitjinpa was taught to paint by Old Mick Tjakamarra, custodian of the Honey Ant Dreaming at Papunya and one of the first artists there. Maxie began painting in 1981, and three years later won the Northern Territory Art Award. Maxie pioneered a style of painting where dots were made using the brush end of a paintbrush (as opposed to the stick end) to create soft dots which, en masse, were deployed to evoke fire, smoke, rain or movement.
The Watunuma (Flying Ants) Dreaming at Waite Creek is celebrated in this painting. The horizontal band running across the painting indicates the Flying Ant Ancestors beginning to swarm after rain. Short parallel bars represent the Watunuma emerging from holes in the ground – the small concentric circles. Other circles depict the flying ants’ food.