Acrylic on Linen

The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are water soakages or naturally occurring wells. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. It travelled across the country, with the lightning striking the land. This storm met up with another storm from Wapurtali, to the west, was picked up by a ‘kirrkarlan’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) and carried further west until it dropped the storm at Purlungyanu, where it created a giant soakage. At Puyurru the bird dug up a giant snake, ‘warnayarra’ (the ‘rainbow serpent’) and the snake carried water to create the large lake, Jillyiumpa, close to an outstation in this country. This story belongs to Jangala men and Nangala women. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. In many paintings of this Jukurrpa curved and straight lines represent the ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters) running through the landscape. Motifs frequently used to depict this story include small circles representing ‘mulju’ (water soakages) and short bars depicting ‘mangkurdu’ (cumulus & stratocumulus clouds).

Louise Nangala Egan was born in 1987 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west from Alice Springs. She began her schooling at the local primary school and finished her schooling at Yirara College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. She returned to the community in 2004, after graduating from Yirara where she has lived permanently ever since. Louise and her siblings (1 brother and 2 sisters) were brought up by her grandparents, Thomas Jangala Rice and Jeannie Nungarrayi Egan. Thomas Jangala Rice and Jeannie Nungarrayi Egan are well known artists and have always played an important role in the Yuendumu community. It was through her Grandparents that Louise learnt to paint her Jukurrpa.

She has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2004. She consistently paints her grandfather’s Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) that relates directly to Puryurru, an area west of Yuendumu. These ‘dreamings’ are all about her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They have been passed down through the generations for millennia. Louise Initially used traditional iconography but over time she has developed an individualistic style using pattern and design in a variety of contexts to depict her traditional jukurrpa.                                          

After Louise finished school she returned to Yuendumu, and worked for the Mining Store for several years. She now looks after her three children and paints. When she is not painting, she likes to go hunting with her family and friends.