Colin Dixon Tjapanangka
Walpiri people NT b.1955
Tanyinki (West of Yuendumu)
Acrylic on linen
213.5 x 162 cm
BCEC Art Collection
Colin Dixon Tjapanangka was born at Yarrungkanyi on Mt Doreen Station and his early years were spent between Yuendumu and Mt Doreen. He began painting in 1981, learning by watching other artists. Colin Dixon Tjapanangka’s works reflect the dynamic Warlpiri style developed at Yuendumu in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the Western Desert painting movement spread beyond Papunya and into other communities.
A large group of women of the Dreamtime are shown here gathering food and digging for honey ants. Concentric circles indicate soakages or rockholes at the site of this Tanyinki, west of Yuendumu. Sinuous lines represent ngalyipi, ropes used for ceremonial purposes and made from a vine of the same name.