Wati Kutjarra (Two Brothers Dreaming)
2004
Tjumpo Tjapanangka
Australian Aboriginal, Kukatja people, Balgo (Wirrimanu), Kimberley/Western Desert, Western Australia, 1929-2007
Lake Mackay, a vast salt encrusted lake, is on most maps of Australia. To this artist, it is Wilkinkarra, his homeland created by two ancestral brothers in the epic era of dreaming. In this canvas, two vertical lines recall where the brothers camped and the middle horizontal white line is the windbreak they built. Their presence is embedded in the water and landscape, and their teachings are carried on by leaders like Tjumpo, who was a respected lawman and healer. He constantly walked around his homeland and painted it so that we would pay attention to what our eyes couldn’t see. If you’ve walked across a salt lake, do these patterns resonate with your memories of the crusts that form?
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas
70 7/8 x 59 1/16 in. (180 x 150 cm)
Gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
2019.20.3
Provenance: [Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2004
Photo: Susan Cole