Sold at Auction: Linda Syddick Napaltjarri

Linda Syddick Napaltjarri was born in the area of Wilkinkarra (Lake MacKay), she is the daughter of Wanala Nangala and Rintja Tjungurrayi.Linda's paintings are inspired by both her traditional nomadic life in the desert, and the Dreaming of her father and stepfather. Linda's father was Rintje Tjungurrayi who was he killed by a revenge spearing party in accordance with customary Law when Linda was about eighteen months old; her stepfather, artist Lankata Shorty Tjungurrayi, subsequently brought her up. Before Lungkata died in 1985, he instructed Linda to carry on his work and paint his Dreaming. And so it was that in 1986 her two Uncles Uta Uta Tjangala and Nosepeg Tjupurrula taught Linda the art of painting.

Linda often paints the Dreaming story of the Tingari and the Emu Men. The Emu Men were ancestral beings that roamed the landscape during the Dreamtime or Creation Period. The Emu was the totem of her father, Rintje Tjungurrayi and stepfather, Lungkata Shorty Tjungurrayi. The Tingari were ancestral spirit beings, who went on very long journeys, creating much of the desert landscape in Central Australia, and instructing the people about law and custom. Linda paints country mostly around Lake MacKay, which has been central to the cultural and spiritual life of the Pintupi people for thousands of years. People used to camp around its shores during their seasonal journeys and gather there for ceremonies. Lake MacKay was where Linda was born and traveled for most of her early childhood. It is a large dry salt lake, which straddles the WA-NT border, northwest of Kintore.