Debra Nangala McDonald / Goanna Love Story (4A)

Debra McDonald Nangala, was born in November 1969 at Papunya Camp. She is the granddaughter of the late Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi (c.1920-1987) who was a Pintubi man from Lake MacDonald in the Gibson Desert, Central Australia. In 1948 he moved to Haasts Bluff and Papunya, and both Debra and Shorty’s stories refer to his country of Lake MacDonald.

Debra was married to the nephew of Turkey Tolson and son of the great female artist Mitjili. Her paintings have been documented in Geoffrey & James Bardon’s book “Papunya A Place Made After the Story. The Beginning of the Western Desert Painting Movement”

The small concentric circle is the hole in the sandbank where the goanna lives. The large circle depicts the contours of the sand hill as it surrounds the goanna hole. The 2 elongated dot designs either side represent the goanna tracks as he searches the sandhills to find a wife. This design relates to the Goanna Spirit beings of the Dreamtime journeys as they travel their country in search for love.