Tali (Sandhills) 2003 by Barbara Napangarti Reid 121x76cm Cat 7913BR

This simple but lovely work by Barbara Reid is titled Tali (Sandhills). This work depicts the landscape: puli or rock formations, represented here by the stratified, elongated U shapes; and tali – the waving lines that signify the sweeping sand dunes.

This traditional method of representing geographic formations through the use of stratified lines also has its roots in the body paint worn by women during sacred ceremonies.

These ceremonies represent aspects of the secret and sacred Tingari Cycle, from the Tjukurrpa (Creation Era). It represents a spiritual amalgam that incorporates story, song and ceremony. It narrates the stories of the Tingari ancestors who travelled vast stretches of the country performing rituals, which in turn brought into being the land formations of particular sites. The site here is the artist’s custodian site, Tjukurla , in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia.