Pirlinyanu 2008 by Julie Nangala Robertson 152x76cm

"Pirlinyanu Site - Water Dreaming, 2008" by Julie Nangala Robertson, winner of the prestigious Telstra Aboriginal Art Award in the Best Painting category in August 2023, showcases her extraordinary talent. Julie's paintings are known for their optical brilliance, achieved by alternating dot sizes and building specific shapes or reference points through repeated dotting.

Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) is linked to Julie's father's traditional country of Pirlinyanu, a rocky outcrop in the Tanami Desert, west of Yuendumu and towards the WA border. This rocky terrain, with its significant waterholes and plentiful bush tucker, is vital for the Water Dreaming. Knowledge of which rocks to move reveals access to fresh water in the deep, naturally occurring wells of Pirlinyanu. Without this insight, the desert landscape might seem devoid of water.

In this region, ownership of the country is passed down patrilineally, while ritual knowledge is transmitted from aunt to niece (father’s sisters) within the Nampijinpa and Nangala sub-section groups.

Julie, the eldest of five daughters of Dorothy Napangardi Robinson, recently changed the spelling of her surname to Robertson to align with her relatives in Yuendumu. She felt her father, Windy, had misspelled it. Windy had two wives: Rene Robinson and Dorothy Robinson.