Ancestral Tingari at Wilkinkarra

Patrick Tjungurrayi was born circa 1940 in the remote region of Jupiter Well, west of Puntujarrapa. His works focusing (largely) on the Tingari Cycle stories and ceremonial subjects relating to the male Pintupi, including Wanawarra or Rainbow Serpent Dreaming. Tingari mythology incorporates Ancestral Tingari beings that travelled across the landscape creating landforms and performing ceremonies. Underground water soakage provided much needed water to the Tingari Ancestors on their epic journeys. The Tingari images can be simply understood as a coded visual language derived from initiation ceremonies. Characteristically, Tingari form is a series of interconnecting squares and/or concentric circles creating vast ground painting, now preserved on canvas. These stories are only privy (in full) to the highly initiated Pintupi male.

COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia Perth, Australia
South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery Brisbane
Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands