Mantua Nangala Untitled

‘Yiwarra tjuțapiinta ngaangka tali tjuța nyinanyingka Marrapinti,’ says Mantua Nangala, a two-time Wynne Prize finalist. She explains that the shimmering lines in her work are the sandhills at the site of Marrapinti, west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia. ‘It is a sacred site for women,’ Nangala says. ‘We do lore here.’

As a leading member of Papunya Tula Artists, Nangala consistently paints Marrapinti, using up to five colours and creamy whites to create the illusion of movement on the canvas and, thereby, the sentience of Country.

In the tjukurrpa, women camped at this rock hole, before passing east through Wala Wala, Kiwirrkurra and Ngaminya. While at the site the women made nose bones, which are worn through a hole made in a person’s nose web. These objects are called marrapinti, from which this site takes its name, and are still used by older Pintupi people during ceremonial occasions.