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BAMBATU CAMPBELL NAPANGARDI
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
86CM X 149CM
BAMBATU HAS SIGNED THE PAINTING AND A PHOTO OF HER WITH HER ARTWORK WILL BE PROVIDED
REF#BCN28
Born: c. Early 1940s, Winron, Pintupi Country, east of Kiwirrkura, Western Australia Language: Pintupi Dreamings: Women's Ceremony (Kungka Tjukurrpa) | Rockhole Site West of Kiwirrkura | Sand Hills (Tali) | Water Dreaming | My Country
Bambatu Campbell Napangardi was born in Winron in remote Pintupi Country, across the Western Australian border east of Kiwirrkura. She lived entirely in the bush with her family, hunting, gathering and living off the land as her ancestors had done for thousands of years until her family walked into the Papunya community west of Alice Springs in the 1960s.
She is sister to highly acclaimed artists Charlie Tjapangardi, Dorothy Napangardi and Nanyuma Napangardi, placing her at the very heart of one of Australia's great artistic families.
While visiting relatives in Balgo, Bambatu met Dinni Campbell Tjampitjinpa, whom she married. Dinni's older brother, Anatjari Tjampitjinpa, was one of the original artists painting in Papunya, and Dinni himself learned his craft by watching the old men paint through the 1970s. In 1981, the legendary Uta Uta Tjangala — considered one of the founding masters of the Western Desert art movement — personally invited Dinni to assist in painting a large canvas depicting events at the sacred site of Yumari, a remarkable honour. In the early 1980s, Bambatu also began painting at Papunya Tula.
Bambatu was Dinni's apprentice for many years, absorbing his skills, techniques and deep knowledge of Country. Sadly, Dinni passed away in Alice Springs in 2000. The knowledge he shared, and everything she observed watching the old men of Papunya paint, became the foundation of her own powerful voice as an artist.
At the heart of Bambatu's work is the Kungka Tjukurrpa; Women's Ceremony Dreaming. Her paintings tell the stories of her female ancestors as they travelled ceremonially across Country, moving between the waterholes of Wirrulunga in Central Australia through to the Kintore, Mount Leibig and Papunya regions. At each sacred site along the way, the women would stop, dance and sing — and it is these journeys, these places and these ceremonies that Bambatu has dedicated her artistic life to recording.
Each element in her paintings carries meaning. The concentric circles represent the waterholes and rockhole sites of her Country, particularly the rockhole sites west of Kiwirrkura that appear throughout her work. The parallel dotted lines trace the paths the ceremonial women travelled. The sand hills (Tali) of her homeland, the striking geometric dotted lines that create an almost maze-like effect across her canvases are another constant presence, as are the Water Dreaming stories that connect the women's journeys to the life-giving water sources of the Western Desert. Viewed up close, her dotted lines lead the eye along routes and watering holes; from a distance the work resolves into an elegant, woven whole. Together these elements form what Bambatu calls her "My Country" — a living map of place, ceremony and ancestry.
The dotting techniques reflect body paint designs used in ceremony, and many other traditional symbols of the Central Desert can be found woven throughout her work.
Bambatu's daughter Christine Nangala is now her apprentice, ensuring these Dreamtime stories and techniques continue to be passed down through the family — just as they have been for generations.
Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally, with galleries including Kate Owen Gallery (Sydney), Mimi Art Gallery, The Artery (Sydney), Amy Kaslow Gallery, and Aboriginal Art Galleries of Australia among those that have represented her work. Her paintings are held in significant private collections worldwide.
This piece can be hung vertically or horizontally.
This painting was purchased directly from Bambatu and a certificate of authenticity will be provided with the sale.
