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Willy Tjungurrayi
Born c.1930 at Patjantja, south west of Lake Mackay.
The artist's senior position in his community entitles him to paint the most significant and secret parts of the Tingari stories, many of which cannot be revealed to the uninitiated.
Willy is the younger brother of Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi, as
well as the older brother of George Tjungurrayi. He grew up in the
bush and was brought with his family to Haasts Bluff in the late
1950s. He moved to Papunya where he started painting for Papunya
Tula Artists in 1976.
By the 1980's Willy had emerged as one of the senior Pintupi
painters. He depicts stories linked to the Tingari Song Cycles
relating to his ancestral lands. The artist's senior position in
his community entitles him to paint the most significant and secret
parts of the Tingari stories, many of which cannot be revealed to
the uninitiated.
The Tingari are usually described as a pair of senior ancestral
beings who, with a large following of other ancestors, moved around
the land creating its features, including the waterholes and
establishing Pintupi law. These stories form part of the
post-initiatory teachings, enshrined in a number of song cycles.
(documentation from Pupunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd). They are deeply
theological and so secret that little information is offered to the
public as interpretation. As a result- the Pintupi paintings about
Tingari ancestors are highly esoteric in nature.
Willy often refers to the "Tali" or sand hills which surround his
country and where the Tingari cycles take place. Painting with a
restrained palette, his work is comprised of irregular lines of
fine dotting on a coloured background, resulting in subtle, elegant
images.
Willy's work has been collected by The National Gallery of
Australia, the AGNSW, The Holmes a Court collection, the Victorian
Arts Centre and other major public and private collections.
