Mina Mina Jukurrpa

I learnt to be an artist by watching my mother Dorothy Napangardi paint. I grew up sitting next to her, watching how she built up the dots and made her paintings. She painted in her own way and it was different to any other paintings I had seen. She saw country in her own way. She would look at the hills, the expanse of sandhills or the pattern of perentie skin. She would then recreate that texture and colours on her canvas. Her dots are the tracks of the woman walking and dancing at Mina Mina. Women and Water Dreaming. I used to paint my own site however after my mother’s death, I have painted and focused on Mina Mina. To continue to honour my mother’s country and her narratives. When I paint, I think of my mother and the stories she told me. I remember her voice and the joy with which she spoke about Mina Mina and being on country, hunting and dancing. When I am painting, I think of my mother. In the quiet moments I reflect on the ways our lives are similar. It makes me happy and proud to be recreating the steps of the woman at Mina Mina and honouring my mother. I am following in her footprints, recreating her story and memory. Painting our country and culture. JULIE NANGALA ROBERTSON