Jungunpa 2003 Triptych by Polly Napangardi Watson

Jungunpa (Marsupial Mouse) Triptych, 2003
Polly Napangardi Watson
Acrylic on canvas, each panel 122 × 36 cm

This elegant triptych by Warlpiri artist Polly Napangardi Watson depicts the Jungunpa (Marsupial Mouse) Dreaming, connected to her birthplace at Mount Doreen, west of Yuendumu in the Tanami Desert. Painted as three panels that may be displayed vertically or horizontally, the composition traces the nocturnal tracks of the marsupial mouse across the desert landscape. Using the aerial perspective characteristic of Western Desert painting, Watson creates a rhythmic network of lines and finely applied dotting that evokes the movement of the animal across sandhills and spinifex plains.