Ngapa Jukurrpa III Blue Canvas Wall Art

Ngapa Jukurrpa III Blue Canvas Art Print - Inspired by the Water Dreaming, this incredibly intricate Aboriginal artwork features thousands of meticulously placed dots, culminating in a maze-like shape in a colour palette of black and white, with royal blue.

This Aboriginal artwork depicts the water Dreaming, and tells a story of two Jangala men, rainmakers, who sang for the rain and unleashed a giant storm. The storm travelled from the east to the west until it reached Warlura, a waterhole to the east of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. At Warlura, a gecko blew the storm away. The storm continued on, covering the lands with rain and shooting out bolts of lightning, awakening the 'kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa' (children of the clouds Dreaming).

The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama, and stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today in the Northern Territory as rock formations.

The water Dreaming continued its travels to Mikanji, a watercourse northwest of Yuendumu, where the storm was picked up by a 'kirrkarlanji' (brown falcon) and taken farther north. At Puyurru, the falcon dug up a giant 'warnayarra' (rainbow serpent). The serpent carried water with it to create another large lake, before travelling on through other locations and eventually arriving at Gurindji country to the north.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the 'Jukurrpa' (Dreaming). Short dashes are often used to represent 'mangkurdu' (cumulus & stratocumulus clouds), and longer, flowing lines represent 'ngawarra' (flood waters). Small circles are used to depict 'mulju' (soakages) and riverbeds.

Artist Name - Louise Nangala Egan

Artist's story in PDF format can be viewed in the specifications section