Jungunpa 2003 Triptych by Polly Napangardi Watson 7661PWN

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 (122 x 36cm each), 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.

Custodianship of the Jungunpa Dreaming belongs to women of the Napangardi and Napanangka skin groups, whose close kinship relationship is traditionally understood as that of aunt and niece. Through ceremony, storytelling and artistic expression, senior women transmit appropriate cultural knowledge and responsibilities to succeeding generations, ensuring the continuity of these ancestral connections.