Ngapa Jukurrpa by Sabrina Nangala Robertson 41x41CM 8896SR

In this powerful rendition of Ngapa Jukurrpa(Water Dreaming), Sabrina Nangala Robertson uses yellow ochre and fine white dotting against a rich black background to evoke the dramatic onset of an ancestral storm. The black areas, like dark clouds gathering overhead, create an atmosphere of suspense—capturing the moment just before the skies open and torrential rain pours into the sandy, usually dry creek bed of Mikanji, a significant Water Dreaming site west of Yuendumu.

This work references a sacred Dreaming that occurred during the creation era. The story follows an ancestral rain being who travelled from Puyurru, northwest of Yuendumu, to the mulju (soakage) at Mikanji. There, two blind women of the Nampijinpa skin group sat beside the soakages. As the storm approached, they strained to see the sky, and tears welled in their eyes—tears that became rain. The women’s spirits are believed to still inhabit Mikanji, visible today as two ngapiri (river red gums) growing beside the waterhole.

Sabrina Nangala Robertson is the second eldest daughter of acclaimed artist Dorothy Napangardi, and sister to fellow artist Julie Nangala Robertson. Until recently, her surname was spelt Robinson . Through her work, Sabrina honours and continues her family's profound legacy of storytelling through art.