Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
Pintupi people NT/WA c.1943
Wilkinkarra 1987
Acrylic on linen
213 x 213 cm
BCEC Art Collection
Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was born in the desert in Western Australia approximately 100 kilometres west of the Kintore Ranges. He travelled with his family in a traditional nomadic lifestyle in the Lake Mackay area. He began painting in the early years of the Papunya Tula art movement and quickly gained acclaim as the preeminent painter of Tingari designs. His bold renditions of repeated concentric cirlces were often offset by subtle shifts in tone or colour to create visual intensity.
In this painting the artist has shown the secret-sacred Tingari site of Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay). The roundels are designs used in body decoration during ceremonies and the grey sections represent the lake.
As the ceremonies associated with the Tingari cycle are of a secret nature, the artist did could not reveal any further information.
Wilkinkarra can be viewed in Plaza Gallery.