ARTIST: Myra Herbert

Myra Patrick, skin name Nungarrayi, walked across the Tanami desert to Lajamanu with her father in the early 1960s, where her arranged husband was living.

Along with many Lajamanu artists of her era, Nungarrayi commenced painting in 1986 when TAFE conducted a Traditional Painting course in the community. She became widely renowned for a unique technique of very fine dots, which provided her paintings with an ethereal, shimmering appearance. The technique was made possible by collecting and sharpening fine twigs to allow her to apply her trademark dots.

After developing Repetitive Strain Disorder (RSI) from painting, Nungarrayi took a hiatus in the 1990s. As she has aged, Nungarrayi has lost the motor skills and dexterity to continue the technique that made her famous, and now utilises broad and sweeping brushstrokes to convey her Jukurrpa (Dreaming).

Nungarrayi was also known for her collaborative paintings with her now deceased husband, Freddy Patrick Tjangala, as well as pottery. The Jukurrpa she depicts comes from her father’s homeland, Yinipaka.

In 2018, Nungarrayi’s paintings were selected for Parrtjima, an indigenous light festival in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Her artwork was converted into visual light projections, along with a collaborative installation of sounds of the budgerigar.

Budgerigar Dreaming – Ngatijirri Jukurrpa

‘Ngatijirri’ are small, bright green birds with yellowish foreheads that are native to central Australia and Tanami desert region. They are commonly seen in the areas surrounding Lajamanu and are known affectionately by locals as ‘showoffs’ for the energetic and playful nature of their flight.

Traditionally, men would hunt for ‘ngatijirri’ nests, robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds, which are both considered delicacies. The men would also hunt for adult flying ‘ngatijirri’, which they would kill by swinging branches, killing sticks or ‘karli’ (boomerangs) to hit the birds in flight.

In the Dreamtime, whenever the flock of ancestral ‘ngatijirri’ landed, they would perform ceremonies, then sing and dance as they flew before nesting in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are depicted in the paintings of this Dreaming (Jukurrpa) as concentric circles, while cross-like shapes depict the footprints of the birds on the ground. It also indicates the large scale of ‘ngatijirri’ flocks that fly throughout the Tanami.

After strong rains, ‘ngatijirri’ will often successfully breed several times in a short period, resulting in an explosion of the population. They will fly from tree to tree in search of food for their young, who nest in hollow trees.

Custodians for the Ngatijirri Jukurrpa are Napaljarri/Nungarrayi women and Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men.