Artist: Lorna Naparrula Fencer | Title: Bush Potato | Year: 1998 | Medium: synthetic polymer paint on canvas | Dimensions: 127.5 x 94 cm

PROVENANCE
Katherine Art Gallery, NT Cat No. P987
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, NSW

ARTWORK STORY
This painting depicts Wapartali - the Little Bush Potato. This is a favourite food of the Warlpiri and the major totem for this artist.
In what is the major dreaming story for for Napurrulla women Wapartali and Yumurpa - the Big Bush potato fight a battle which ends in a just settlement. It is a morality tale about how Warlpiri people live in harmony. It is also one of the major ceremonial stories for the artist.

Artist Profile

COMMUNITY/REGION
Lajamanu, NT

LANGUAGE
Warlpiri

BIOGRAPHY
Born c. 1925, at Yarturlu Yarturlu, a Yam Dreaming site, Lorna Fencer, was the custodian of inherited land Yumurrpa situated near Chilla Well, south of the Granites Mine in the Tanami Desert. Her father’s country was Wapurtali. She spent her early years living a traditional life until, in 1949 she, along with many of her Warlpiri countrymen, were forcibly transported to the government settlement of Lajamanu at Hooker Creek, situated in the country of the Gurindji people… Continue Reading