Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri / Nyrripi – Father’s Country (NP093)

Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri was born in Haasts Bluff c. 1945. Her language group is Walpiri/Luritja and her region Yamunturrngu (Mt. Liebig). She has led a Traditional life, growing up at Haasts Bluff, schooling at Papunya and carrying out domestic duties as a young woman. She married Jack Tjampitjinpa Pollard (deceased) and initially moved to Kintore then Mt. Liebig, where she resides today with her family and, together with Lilly Kelly Napangardi and Wentja Napaltjarri, is a Senior Artist with the Watiyawanu Artists of Mt. Liebig.

Like many of the wives of the early Papunya Tula artists, Ngoia was introduced to the art world by assisting her husband. She commenced painting in her own right in 1997. Ngoia paints her father’s country and the associated sacred Walpiri dreamings, iconography and narratives. Her works feature the distinctive oval shapes representing the swamps and lakes of the country where her father lived, hunted and passed the heritage to his daughter. Ngoia tells of the stories of this area, the dangerous nature of the land, and the ancestral story of the watersnake who lives under the harsh terrain. The images of subject matter are complimented by fine infill dotting, her works are strong and aesthetically pleasing.

Ngoia received First Prize in the Centralian Advocate Award 2004 and in 2006 won Australia’s richest and most coveted Indigenous art prize – NATSIAA Telstra Award. Together with Lilly Kelly and Wentja, Ngoia has gone from strength to strength in her career, participating in major Exhibitions throughout Australia, to now become a collectable and highly sought after artist.

AWARDS
• 2006 Winner – NATSIAA Telstra Award
• 2004 Winner – Advocate Central Australian Award

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
• National Art Gallery, NSW
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• Thomas Vroom Collection, Netherlands
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
• Artbank, Sydney

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2004
• ‘Lilly Kelly Napangardi and Ngoia Napaltjarri Pollard’, Neil Murphy Indigenous Art, Sydney
• Mary Place Gallery, Sydney

2005
• Vivien Anderson Gallery, The Women’s Show, VIC (Selected paintings by Aboriginal women artists in celebration of their contribution to Australian and International visual arts and culture).

2006
• AP Bond Art Gallery, Adelaide – together with Lilly Kelly Napangardi and Wentja Napaltjarri
• Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Adelaide with Lilly Kelly Napangardi and Wentja Napaltjarri

Ngoia has depicted her father’s country and narratives referring to the water snake. The oval shapes in her works are iconographic representations of the swamps and lakes near Nyrripi, North West of Amunturngu (Mount Liebig). Ngoia depicts the different season characteristics of this country. The area is known to have the spiritual presence of the water snake, which lives beneath the surface. Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri has particular custodianship obligations for this country.