Three sisters from Warlukurlangu

"In so doing, she harks back to the first works on board by the artists of Yuendumu and Papunya in the late 1960s and early 1970s which have been widely heralded as the birth of the contemporary desert Aboriginal art movement. "

ANCIENT STORIES | contemporary vision
Cecily Napanangka Marshall,Judith Nungarrayi Martin, Valerie Napanangka Marshall

In partnership with Warlukurlangu Artists of Yuendumu

Mid-career Warlpiri artists and sisters Cecily and Valerie Napanangka Marshall and their cousin Judith Nungurrayi Martin have a close sisterly bond and often paint alongside each other in the studio of their art centre - Warlukurlangu Artists of Yuendumu. Each has developed her own distinctive and evolving style.

Cecily and Valerie Napanangka Marshall paint the Dreaming stories of the large and important creation site of Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs) - a large natural spring near Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay), located on Mount Doreen Station in the far western desert of the NT/WA. Cecily Marshall uses classic geometric western desert iconography to depict the ancient stories of Pikilyi springs and the rainbow serpents that lived in its waters.

Judith Martin uses glowing colours and soft, lyrical brushwork to depict the vast country and creation story of the Brush Tail Possum in contemporary style.

A particularly exciting stylistic development is evident in Valerie Napanangka Marshall's new works in which she leaves a negative space around the images, allowing them to float on the canvas.

In so doing, she harks back to the first works on board by the artists of Yuendumu and Papunya in the late 1960s and early 1970s which have been widely heralded as the birth of the contemporary desert Aboriginal art movement.