Pamela Napurrurla Walker / River Dreaming

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

Pamela Napurrurla Walker was born in 1957 at Mt Doreen Station, an extensive cattle breeding station about 55km west of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. 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. Pamela finished Primary School at the local School in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290km north-west of Alice Springs, where has lived most of her life. However, she lived in Nyrripi for 2 years where she also has family. She has two daughters and many nieces and nephews.

Pamela has been working with Warlukurlangu Artists since 1994 but it wasn’t until 2006 that she began to paint full time. She paints her father’s jurkurrpa, Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were told to her by her father, stories that have been passed down through the millennia.

Pamela’s paintings have strong iconic themes that are colourful and bold. When Pamela is not painting or looking after her family she likes to go hunting, especially for bush potato.

This Wulpayi Jukurrpa (Kakutu river Dreaming) comes from country north of Yuendumu near Willowra community.

While the Kakutu river only flows from time to time after good rains, the beds and banks of the river are an important resource for the people of the area. Many ‘mulju’ (soakages) are found along the sandy river bed and water is sourced from these by digging down to the water-table.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. In paintings of this Jukurrpa the flowing river can be represented by strait or sinuous lines and several important ‘mulju’, including Wakatinyi, Yarruku and Wurlpatiparnta are often shown.