Samantha Napurrurla Gibson / Desert Fringe-rush Seed Dreaming (2342-20ny)

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

Samantha Napurrurla Gibson was born 1978 and grew up in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. The area around Yuendumu is her father’s and her grandmother’s country.

When she was little Samantha stayed with her mother in Alice Springs where she went to a convent school. Later, when she got bigger, she returned to Yuendumu to finish her schooling. She is a single mother with two children born in 2002 and 2005 respectively. Her other two sons from her previous marriage live with their father in Billiluna, 550 km north-west of Yuendumu.

Samantha has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2010. She paints her Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which relate directly to her land. These stories were passed down to her by her grandmother and her grandmother’s mother for generations. Samantha likes to paint the Dreaming of her grandmother, which is the Yurrampi Jukurrpa or Honey Ant Dreaming.

When she has free time Samantha likes to play basketball and to walk with her children in the bush around Yuendumu and tell them stories of her country, its features and animals.

This Jukurrpa belongs to women of the Nakamarra / Napurrurla subsections and to Jakamarra / Jupurrurla men. This Dreaming is associated with a place called Jaralypari, north of Yuendumu. Lukarrara (desert fringe-rush) is a grass with an edible seed. The seeds are traditionally ground on a large stone (‘ngatinyanu’) with a smaller stone (‘ngalikirri’) to make flour. This flour is mixed with water (‘ngapa’) to make damper cakes which are cooked and eaten. In Warlpiri traditional paintings iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. Large concentric circles often represent the site of Jaralypari and also the seed bearing grass Lukurrara. ‘U’ shapes can depict the Karnta (women) collecting ‘lukarrara’ and straight lines are frequently used to portray seeds that fall down to the ground and are also collected by women using their ‘parrajas’ (wooden food carriers) and ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks).