Murdie Nampijinpa Morris / Two Dogs Dreaming (2A)

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

Murdie (Maudie) Nampijinpa Morris was born in the 1930s at Rabbit Flat, a tiny settlement in the middle of the harsh Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory of Australia about 160km from the Western Australia border and 315km north-west of Yuendumu. Her parents would take her out bush in around Nyirripi area, showing her sites and teaching her the traditional ways of her country. In the early 1980s she settled in Yuendumu and worked at the Old People’s Home – a Program that cares for the elderly by helping them when they are sick, and being with them when they are alone or when they are frightened during storms. She was married but is now a widowed woman. She never had children.

Murdie has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation since 2012. She was prompted to paint when she attended a workshop in 2012. She enjoys painting, and paints her father’s dreaming, Maliki Jukurrpa (Domestic Dog Dreaming) and Malikijarra Jukurrpa (Two Dogs Dreaming). Dreamings that have been passed down through the generations for millennia and relate directly to the land, its features and the animals and plants that inhabit it. She uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

Malikijarra Jukurrpa (Two Dogs Dreaming) relates to the land adjacent to the windmill at Warlarlarla (Rabbit Flat). This painting retells the Dreaming of two dog ancestors, Jampijinpa and Napangardi, who travelled along a creek bed north-east to Yarikurlangu . When they arrived, Jampijinpa and Napangardi made a burrow to rest in and started a big family of dogs. The ribcages of the Jampijinpa, Napangardi and their family can be seen as features in the landscape in the Yarikurlangu area, and have been depicted in this work. Surrounding these prominent symbols, Murdie has depicted several waterholes in the Yarikurlangu district. This Dreaming belongs to the Jangala, Nangala, Jampijinpa and Nampijinpa moieties, who are shown travelling along the watercourse.