In late 1984, Walala and several other members of the Pintupi tribe walked out of the remote wilderness of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia and made contact for the first time with European society. Described as “The Lost Tribe“, he and his family created international headlines.

Until that day in 1984, Walala and his family lived the traditional and nomadic life of a hunter-gatherer society. Their intimate knowledge of the land, its flora and fauna and waterholes allowed them to survive, as their ancestors had for thousands of years.

It is this sacred landscape with its significant sites that Walala so strikingly describes in his paintings. His style is strongly gestural and boldly graphic, one that is generally highlighted by a series of rectangles set against a monochrome background. He paints the Tingari Cycle (a series of sacred and secret mythological song cycles) which are associated with the artist’s many dreaming sites - they are Wilkinkarra, Marua, Tarrku, Njami and Yarrawangu, to name a few. These Dreamings are the locations of significant rockholes, sandhills, sacred mountains and water soakages in the Gibson Desert.

Walala Tjapaltjarri was first introduced to painting in the mid ‘90’s by his brother Warlimpirrnga, also a painter of international acclaim. While Walala’s first paintings were in a classical Tingari style usually reserved for body painting, ground painting and the decoration of traditional artefacts, within a couple of months of painting he evolved his own innovative style of work. He began abstracting the classical Pintupi designs, creating a highly graphic language to speak of his country and ceremonial sites. The rectangles so prominent in his paintings form both a physical and spiritual map establishing Walala as a discerning draughtsman for his ancient country.