Untitled Scarf by Aubrey Tjangala

This painting depicts designs associated with the site Walungurru (Kintore), set deep in the Western Desert. During ancestral times, Ngintaka (Perentie) travelled to this site from the west where he died and turned to stone, becoming the prominent mountain that marks the community.

The site is also associated with the secret-sacred Tingari Song Cycle, the contents of which are only known to initiated Pintupi. Although the specific stories are closely guarded, the Tingari in general are a group of ancestral Dreaming beings who travelled the country, performing rituals and creating and transforming significant sites. Their adventures are enshrined in numerous song cycles, and their stories form part of initiatory teachings.

Aubrey’s strong use of line and repetition rendered in a restrained monochrome palette creates a mesmerising optical effect, allowing the viewer to follow the tracks of the Ngintaka to his final resting place.