Simon Tjakamarra
Pintupi people NT/WA c.1947-1990
Yitjurunya 1987
Acrylic on linen
213 x 240 cm
BCEC Art Collection
Simon Tjakamarra was a Pintupi artist who played an important role in shaping new painting styles during the early years of the Papunya Tula art movement. Born at Kulkurta in the Western Desert, he began painting in the late 1970s, as artists transitioned from small boards to larger canvases.
His work depicts Tingari Dreaming narratives, rendered through finely balanced concentric circles and connecting lines. Characterised by precision and clarity, Tjakamarra’s paintings map ancestral journeys across Country, and are held in major public and private collections.
Yitjurunya (Yirtjurunya) is a claypan site in Pintupi Country, associated with the Tingari cycle, one of the most significant men’s ceremonial knowledge systems of the Western Desert.
As with many Tingari paintings, the work features repeated concentric circles with connecting lines, indicating the many sites visited by the Tingari men on their creative journeys.
Yitjurunya can be viewed on Plaza Level.