Wentja Napaltjarri
Born: circa 1945 Language: Luritja/Pintupi
Country: West of Kintore
Wentja Napaltjarri was born circa 1945, in the bush near Ilpilli, an outstation halfway between Kintore and Mt Liebig. It was here that her father, Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi, was born. Shorty was one of the original founders of the Western Desert art movement.
Together, father and daughter hunted bandicoot, goanna and echidna and dug for Macu (witchety grubs). These animals now form part of Wendja’s Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) ‐ handed down to her by her father. ‘Water Dreaming’ and ‘Blue Tongue Lizard Dreaming’ also form part of Wentja’s Tjukurrpa.
Forced to leave their lands after the arrival of the Europeans, the family journeyed east over the spinifex and sandhills – an incredible distance – to reach the ration depot at Haasts Bluff. Along the way they had contact with some of the most influential members of the community, who had been at Papunya when it was first established; Nosepeg Tjupurrula being one.
Whilst at Haasts Bluff, Wentja met her husband, Ginger Tjakamarra, also the son of a famous artist, Makinti
Napanangka. The couple eventually moved to Papunya, where Wentja started painting as her father’s apprentice.
Wentja is a highly talented artist with an accomplished and distinctive style. Her early training with her father helped
develop her most important works, particularly the story of two goannas mating and going into a hole, inherited
directly from Shorty.
Wentja’s early system of interconnecting concentric circles and dotted bands has been now replaced by mesmerising
fields of tonal colours. Her paintings are less geometric and display a key motif – in most cases a large roundel, which
represents an important rock hole where her family regularly camped. Surrounding the rockhole is a charged energy
field of intricate dots – the soft dotting technique being characteristic of many Mount Liebig artists. While she works,
Wentja sings about the rock hole, and the songs and music are incorporated into her paintings.
Wentja’s works have been highly sought for the past decade, included in such major collections as the Kerry Stokes
and Thomas Vroom Collections, the National Aboriginal Art and Culture Institute in Adelaide, and many State gallery
and university collections.
Wentja’s work has been included in leading Australian and International exhibitions, including Masterpieces from the
Western Desert, held in London in 2008. Wentja was a finalist in the Telstra National and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Art Award from 2001‐2004 and again from 2006‐2008.