Lukarrara Jukurrpa (Desert Fringe-rush Seed Dreaming) by Sandra Napanangka Frank

Size: 91 x 61cm

Lukarrara Jukurrpa (Desert Fringe-rush Seed Dreaming)

This Jukurrpa belongs to women of the Nakamarra/Napurrurla subsections and to Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. This Dreaming is associated with a place called Jaralypari, north of Yuendumu. Lukarrara (desert fringe-rush [Fimbristylis oxystachya & Fimbristylis eremophila]) is a grass with an edible seed. The seeds are traditionally ground on a large stone (‘ngatinyanu’) with a smaller stone (‘ngalikirri’) to make flour. This flour is mixed with water (‘ngapa’) to make damper cakes which are cooked and eaten. In Warlpiri traditional paintings iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. Large concentric circles often represent the site of Jaralypari and also the seed bearing grass Lukurrara. ‘U’ shapes can depict the Karnta (women) collecting ‘lukarrara’ and straight lines are frequently used to portray seeds that fall down to the ground and are also collected by women using their ‘parrajas’ (wooden food carriers) and ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks).

Biography

Sandra Napanangka Frank was born in 1990 in the Health Clinic in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Linny Nampijinpa Frank and the grand-daughter of Frank Japanangka, the keeper of the Yuelamu site and leading figure in the Mount Allan community. Mt Allan is 30 km north-west of Yuendumu and home to Sandra. She attended the local school there, and is now married to Raymond Jupurrurla Leo. They have one daughter, Anisha. Sandra has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2009. She paints her mother’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her mother and her mother’s mother before her for millennia. Sandra uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture. When Sandra is not painting she likes to spend time with her daughter or go hunting on the week-end for bush tucker. She also likes to visit Yuendumu to drop off her artwork and pick up canvas, paint and brushes and shop at the local store.