Kinyu (2007)

Eubena Nampitjin

Untitled
2000
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 150 x 100.3 cm
Collection of Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Kinyu
2007
Acrylic on linen 183 x 122 cm
Collection of National Museum of Australia, Canberra

Midjul
2007
Acrylic on linen 150 x 75 cm Private collection

Kinyu
2006
Synthetic polymer paint on linen 180 x 120 x 4 cm
Private collection

Overview

An elder of the Wangkajunga people and respected custodian of its women’s law, Eubena Nampitjin (1921–2013) utilised her knowledge of Aboriginal ceremonies to produce large-scale canvases that reflect the strength of her Aboriginal culture and community. The posthumous selection of Nampitjin’s paintings envision her community’s natural landscape through a complex series of dots that reflect the texture of her native land encompassing the remote Great Sandy Desert in Central Australia. Despite their bright tones, Nampitjin’s paintings document the unwritten histories of colonial encounters on a harsh and often violent frontier in which the artist and her family led a nomadic life and were displaced as a result of colonial developments.