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JUDY WATSON NAPANGARDI (CIRCA 1935 - )
Wititji - Hairstring Dreaming, 2004
synthetic polymer paint on linen
214 x 152 cm

Provenance: Ngintaka Arts Flinders Lane Gallery: Cat. no. FG04409.JW Private Collection, Vic Sold with original gallery documentation At Mina Mina, ancestral women danced and performed ceremonies before travelling to Janyinki and other sites as they moved east toward Alcoota. During their ritual dancing, digging sticks rose up out of the ground and the women carried these implements with them on their long journey east singing and dancing all the way, with no sleep. The hairstring is anointed with red ochre and is a secret and sacred connection between the women's ceremony and the country, which enables them to connect with the spirit of the Dreaming. In this work the rippling surface, painted in the artist's distinct 'dragged' dotting style, mimics the dance of her ancestors across the country during its creation. Ref. for a similar work see Christine Nicholls, 'The Three Napangardi's, To the memory of Maggie Napangardi Watson' in Ryan,J; (ed.) Colour Power-Aboriginal Art Post 1984 in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, 2004, pp123-125 and p.33 illus.