Linda Napurrurla Walker / Bush Potato Dreaming (6767-22)

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

Linda Napurrurla Walker was born in 1973 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290km north-west of Alice Springs in NT of Australia. She was born into a large Warlpiri family and has three brothers and six sisters. Her father, Towser Jakamarra Walker (Dec) was not only one of the senior men in the Warlpiri community at Yuendumu but also a well-known artist who painted for Warlukurlangu Artists. Both her parents have passed away. Linda finished Primary School at the local Yuendumu School. She married Calvin Jungarray Martin and they would often paint together. However she has since divorced him and is now married to Patrick Japanangka Marshall.

Linda has lived in Yuendumu for most of her life and worked for the local Commonwealth Employment Program doing jobs around the community. However, in 2009 Linda moved to Alice Springs to look after her two sisters, niece and her little grandson. Linda has her own house at Warlpiri Camp in Alice Springs where they all live. Linda still works with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre in Yuendumu and she often visits the art centre to drop off paintings and collect canvas, paint and brushes.

Linda has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists for many years. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which include Yarla Jukurrpa (Bush Potato Dreaming), Ngarlajiyi Jukurrpa (Bush Carrot Dreaming) and Janganpa Jukurrpa (Native Possum Dreaming), stories that have been passed down to her by her father and that depict her father’s country south west of the Tanami. Linda’s paintings have strong iconic themes that are strong, colourful and bold.

When Linda is not painting or looking after her family she likes to get on the Internet to talk to her friends.

This dreaming comes from an area to the east of Yuendumu called Cockatoo Creek. ‘Yarla’ (bush potato) are fibrous tubers that grow beneath a low spreading plant, found by looking for cracks in the ground. This edible tuber grows from roots which seek out moisture to sprout new plants. Yarla are good to eat, when cooked they are really soft and tasty. This dreaming tells of ‘yarla’ and ‘wapirti’ (bush carrot) ancestors fighting a big battle in this area. The specific site associated with this painting is a ‘mulju’ (water soakage) called Ngarparapunyu.