Agnes Nampijinpa Fry / Seed Dreaming (2A)

 Artwork is accompanied by Warlukurlangu Artists (Yuendumu) Art Centre Certificate of Authenticity/Provenance

 Agnes Nampijinpa Fry was born in 1965 in Yuendumu, a remote community located 290kms north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Agnes was schooled in Yuendumu and still lives there today. She is married to Stephen Jakamarra Walker, the son of the famous Warlpiri artist Liddy Napanangka Walker. They have four children, Lesley, Braden, Sinella and Trevor. Their eldest son lives in Papunya and their eldest daughter lives at Mt Liebig, originally an outstation of Papunya but now a small community in its own rights. Their two youngest children still go to school.

Agnes has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2006. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings relating directly to her land, its features and animals. These stories were passed down to her by her father and her grandfather and their fathers for millennia. When Agnes is not painting she likes to go hunting for bush tucker, particularly Bush Currants. When she has the opportunity she also likes to travel to Papunya and Mt Liebig to see her daughter and son.

This painting tells the story of a Jangala ‘watiya-warnu’ ancestor who travelled south from a small hill called Ngurlupurranyangu to Yamunturrngu (Mount Liebig). As he travelled he picked the ‘watiya-warnu’ seeds and placed them in ‘parrajas’ (food carriers), one of which he carried on his head. Watiya-warnu is a seed bearing tree that grows in open spinifex or mulga country.

When people returned to their camp after collecting the seeds they would make large windbreaks for shelter and winnow the seed in the late afternoon. Immature ‘watiya-warnu’ seed is ground into a paste and can be used to treat upset stomachs. The associated ‘watiya-warnu’ ceremony involves the preparation of a large ground painting. This Jukurrpa belongs to Nampijinpa/Nangala women and Jampijinpa/Jangala men.