Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarii: Water Soakages near Nyrripi

Ngoia Pollard: Water Soakages near Nyrripi

NGOIA POLLARD NAPALJARRI (Australia, b.1948) “Water Soakages near Nyrripi” #synthetic polymer paint on linen 120cm x 178cm Acquired: 2014 #Inventory/Catalogue No.113319

Biography:

Born in Haasts Bluff, Ngoia Pollard went to school in Papunya and moved on to Kintore when she married Jack Tjampitjinpa. She began painting in 1997 and by 2004 had won the prestigious “Advocate Central Australian Award”, NT, and, two years later in 2006, the “Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award” in the painting category.

She is represented in Artbank, Sydney., the National Australian Art Gallery, Canberra, and the well-respected international Thomas Vroom Collection.

The artwork:

Ngoia’s paintings, like many Central Desert artists, represent and reflect her Country.  More particularly, Ngoia has special custodianship responsibilities for her Country and paints her father’s Country, which is a sacred Walpiri territory associated with narratives on the Water Snake, the latter which lives beneath the surface of the land.

Ichnographically, the oval shapes depicted in the work represent the swamps and lakes near Nyrrip, north-west of Mount Liebig, with the dot markings indicating the drying up and formation of cracks near the waterholes.