Regina Pilawuk Wilson, Syaw (Fishnet), 2014, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 47 1/4 x 78 3/4 in. Collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl © Regina Pilawuk Wilson, courtesy Durrmu Arts, Peppimenarti. Photo: Sid Hoeltzell

“My grandfather and grandmother used to make big fishnet, before Europeans came to Australia. We call it syaw. They used to make four or five and put them in the water. I forgot the stitch because the missionaries took us in, and my grandparents died. My big sister told me to do the story on painting for our children and grandchildren, so they can remember what our ancestors used to do a long time ago. She drew it on the sand, on the dirt, and told me to paint it. I’ve got to paint the story on the canvas. It’s like our history.”–Regina Pilawuk Wilson

This work is on view in Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia through September 9, 2018.

Installation view of Yukultji Napangati’s “Women’s Ceremonies at Marrapinti” (2015). Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

“My mother’s country, Marrapinti, that’s what I paint about. The ancestors were coming this way and they entered the place called Wilkinkarra [Lake Mackay]. I paint that, and the places Ngaminya, Wirrulnga. They traveled and arrived at Lake Mackay from Yunala. Yunala is the place of bush-potato Dreaming. The ancestors would dig them up and eat them—my mother’s country.” –Yukultji Napangati

This work is on view in Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia through September 9, 2018.

In this series, we introduce the nine artists behind Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia, on view at The Phillips Collection June 2–September 9, 2018.

Wintjiya Napaltjarri, Women’s Ceremonies at Watanuma, 2007, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 59 7/8 x 71 7/8 in. Collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl © Wintjiya Napaltjarri, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd., courtesy Papunya Tula Artists. Photo: Sid Hoeltzell

WINTJIYA NAPALTJARRI
Born c. 1930, Malparingya, Northern Territory
Died 2014, Walungurru (Pintupi) / Kintore (English), Northern Territory
(Pintupi/Australian)

Wintjiya Napaltjarri witnessed the birth of the contemproary Aboriginal art movement with the establishment of the Papunya Tula Artists company, the first Aboriginal-owned artist company, founded in 1972, and belongs to one of the first generations of women to paint for the company. Born in the Western Desert, she lived nomadically with her family until the 1950s, when she joined the migration of Western Desert peoples to the Lutheran mission at Haasts Bluff. In 1994, she participated in the Kintore/ Haasts Bluff Women’s Painting Project with a group of 14 other women, ushering in a new era of creative output and the establishment of the Ikuntji Women’s Center at Haasts Bluff. Her work is held in Australian collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.