Pirlinyanu Dreaming, 2008 by Julie Nangala Robertson, 152x91cm, Cat 13377

Ownership of country is passed down from the father (patrilineal) and ritual knowledge is passed on from auntie to niece (father’s sisters, Nampitjinpa and Nangala).

Julie Nangala Robertson, winner of the 2023 Telstra Aboriginal Art Award in Best Painting Category, father’s traditional country of Pirlinyanu is a rocky outcrop in the Tanami Desert, west of Yuendumu with significant waterholes and plentiful bush tucker which is one of many significant locations for the Water Dreaming (Ngapa Jukurrpa).

Using an aerial perspective along with a more recently established and distinctive monochromatic palette, Julie’s current paintings have become works of extraordinary optical brilliance as she uses the dots throughout her painting to build up specific shapes and reference points and creating pathways between these points.

The eldest of the five daughters of Dorothy Napangardi Robinson has recently changed the spelling of her surname to Robertson, feeling that her father, Windy, had misspelt it as Julie's other relatives in Yuendumu are all Robertson. Windy had two wives, Rene Robinson and Dorothy Robinson.