George Yapa Tjangala
Pintupi people WA b. 1945
Tingari Ceremonies
Acrylic on linen
213 x 210 cm
BCEC Art Collection
George Yapa Tjangala is a Pintupi artist from the Western Desert, born at Witingu near present day Kiwirrkura. He began painting in the mid 1970s with Papunya Tula Artists, following early work assisting senior painters. His paintings depict Tingari stories, ancestral journeys of ceremonial men across Country, marking waterholes, camping places and ceremonial sites.
Here, George Yapa creates a classic Tingari map, with repeated concentric circles noting the important sites the Tingari stopped at during their travels. Through finely balanced dotting and rhythmic form, Tjangala maps sacred geography around Kirrpinga and Wala Wala, important sites where the Tingari Ancestors stopped to perform ceremony.