Yankirri Jukurrpa I Canvas Wall Art

Yankirri Jukurrpa I Canvas Art Print - An incredibly intricate, yet simple Aboriginal artwork piece that features a recurring pattern of emu footprints circling three, prominent blue circles, and a striking black and white colour palette.

This Aboriginal artwork depicts the emu Dreaming, the site of which is at Ngarlikurlangu – north of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. This Dreaming follows the ‘yankirri’ (emu) on their journey to find water, travelling to the rockhole at Ngarlikurlangu. Once they reached the rockhole, one of the yankirri ancestors – represented in the artwork by ‘wirliya’ (footprints) – enters into a fight with a Wardilyka (Australian bustard), neither wanting to share the ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisin) they discovered in the area.

This Dreaming belongs to the Jangala men and Nangala women, and is also represented by a traditional Warlpiri dance, performed during initiation ceremonies.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. Emus are usually represented by their 'wirliya' (footprints), arrow-like shapes that show them walking around Ngarlikurlangu eating 'yakajirri' (bush raisin).

Artist Name - Jeffrey Jangala Gallagher

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