• Artist: Martha Protty
• Title: Kungka Kutjara
• Size: 76 x 100cm
• Art Centre: Kaltukatjara Art
• Region: Western Desert

Martha Protty is a senior law woman and multidisciplinary artist working across
painting and tjanpi weaving.

Martha was born south of Docker River at a Rockhole, the name of which Martha
cannot speak for cultural reasons. Her whole family are from Docker River country.
Matha's father's country is Warakurna and her mother's country is near Wingellina.

She has one son and one daughter and her husband has passed away. Her husband
was from the other side of the Peterman Ranges.

Martha has been painting, weaving tjanpi (desert grasses) and carving purnu (wooden
sticks) for many years. She is a senior law woman and holds important tjukurrpa songs
for her country.
Martha is a lively character and even at nearly 90 years old, she remains a strong
singer and cultural knowledge-keeper. Her works refer to the Kungka Kutjara tjukurpa,
the Two Sisters songline which runs through Kaltukatjara.

Kungka Kutjara

As a senior law woman of the Kaltukatjara area, Martha's work draws significant
inspiration from local landscape and Tjukurpa (dreaming) stories. Martha's
whole family have lived and traveled in the Kaltukatjara area for generations,
and her paintings are a tribute to her significant cultural and historical
contribution to her community.

In this work, Martha interprets the Kungka Kutjara Tjukurpa, meaning Two
Women. Kungka Kutjara is a creation story following two sisters who travel
through the desert leaving significant landmarks in their wake. Martha's
painting focuses on a significant cultural site just outside Kaltukatjara where the
two sisters stopped to rest under two big shade trees. It also shows features of
the striking desert landscape such as kapi (rock holes), purnu (trees) and puli
(rocks).

Martha is a lively and animated artist whose works draw a connection between
the physical and spiritual realms of her life. She sings Inma (ceremony) songs
continuously as she paints, her steady voice offering a rhythm for the brush.

• Artist: Bob Gibson
• Title: Patjanta
• Size: 40 x 55cm
• Art Centre: Kaltukatjara
• Region: Western Desert

Bob is an internationally recognised Tjukurla artist known for bold, energetic
paintings connected to Country.

Meet Bob

Bob Gibson is one of Tjarlirli's most recognisable artists - bold, funny, full of energy,
and completely himself. His paintings have the same feeling: big colour, quick
movement, strong Country and a bit of Bob's unmistakable spark.
Bob was born at Papunya in 1974 and later moved with his family to Tjukurla, where he
began painting with Tjarlirli Art in 2007. His mother, Mary Gibson, is also a leading
Tjarlirli artist, with Country at Kulkurta. Bob's father's Country is near Patjarr, on the
edge of the Gibson Desert.

Country, family and story

Bob paints his father's Country at Patjantja, a remote place in the Pintupi lands near the
Gibson Desert. He received permission to paint this Country, and that permission sits
behind the strength of the work. These are not just bright paintings - they are paintings
grounded in family, Country and Tjukurrpa.

At the same time, Bob's paintings feel very much alive in the present. They do not sit
quietly. They move, wobble, twist and jump. They carry old stories through a visual
language that is direct, fresh and full of energy.

The way Bob paints

Bob paints quickly, with strong instinct and a lot of trust in the moment. He uses swift
brushstrokes and makes split-second decisions about colour, shape and composition.
One mark leads to another. A line turns into a pathway. A colour pushes against
another colour. The whole painting starts to move.

• Artist: Martha Protty
• Title: Kungka Kutjara
• Size: 40 x 40cm
• Art Centre: Kaltukatjara Art
• Region: Western Desert

Martha Protty is a senior law woman and multidisciplinary artist working across
painting and tjanpi weaving.

Martha was born south of Docker River at a Rockhole, the name of which Martha
cannot speak for cultural reasons. Her whole family are from Docker River country.
Matha's father's country is Warakurna and her mother's country is near Wingellina.

She has one son and one daughter and her husband has passed away. Her husband
was from the other side of the Peterman Ranges.

Martha has been painting, weaving tjanpi (desert grasses) and carving purnu (wooden
sticks) for many years. She is a senior law woman and holds important tjukurrpa songs
for her country.
Martha is a lively character and even at nearly 90 years old, she remains a strong
singer and cultural knowledge-keeper. Her works refer to the Kungka Kutjara tjukurpa,
the Two Sisters songline which runs through Kaltukatjara.

Kungka Kutjara

As a senior law woman of the Kaltukatjara area, Martha's work draws significant
inspiration from local landscape and Tjukurpa (dreaming) stories. Martha's
whole family have lived and traveled in the Kaltukatjara area for generations,
and her paintings are a tribute to her significant cultural and historical
contribution to her community.

In this work, Martha interprets the Kungka Kutjara Tjukurpa, meaning Two
Women. Kungka Kutjara is a creation story following two sisters who travel
through the desert leaving significant landmarks in their wake. Martha's
painting focuses on a significant cultural site just outside Kaltukatjara where the
two sisters stopped to rest under two big shade trees. It also shows features of
the striking desert landscape such as kapi (rock holes), purnu (trees) and puli
(rocks).

Martha is a lively and animated artist whose works draw a connection between
the physical and spiritual realms of her life. She sings Inma (ceremony) songs
continuously as she paints, her steady voice offering a rhythm for the brush.

• Artist: Millie Pei Pie
• Title: Tinka Tjukurrpa
• Size: 50 x 37cm
• Art Centre: Kaltukatjara Arts
• Region: Western Desert

Millie Pei Pie is a senior artist from Kaltukatjara (Docker River).

Millie paints important Tjukurpa (Dreaming) from around the Docker River area, including Seven Sisters, Kunga Kutjara and Tinka Tjukurpa.