BORN: 1950
LANGUAGE GROUP: Ngaatjatjarra and Pintupi/Luritja
REGION: Yumara, Western Australia
View Mrs Porter’s artwork here
Tjawina Porter Nampitjinpa (Mrs Porter) was born at Yumara, North of the Docker River in Western Australia around 1950 and is a half sister to the late Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa (Mrs Bennett), one of Australia’s most respected Indigenous artists and full sister to senior artist Esther Giles Nampitjinpa. Her language group is Ngaatjatjarra and Pintupi/Luritja.
Mrs Porter grew up ‘in the bush’ with her family. After her younger brother died, her family decided to move to the then newly established government settlement of Papunya. Mrs Porter is a widow and now lives with her daughter Fiona Young Napanangka.
Initially known for her skill as a traditional basket weaver, Mrs Porter has developed into a prominent painter. Her works are rich in ethnographic iconography and tell the stories that were passed down by her mother and her father. The sites of Yumari, Punkilpirri, Tjukurla and Tjalili are often portrayed, using a thickly layered style of predominantly white, cream, brown and oranges.
Mrs Porter’s work is represented in private and corporate collections in Australia and around the world.
This painting depicts the site known as Punkilpirri. This is a womens dreaming site located between Tjukurrla and Kintore. The women gathered at this permanent water site and prepared seed damper from ground Kampurarpara ( Bush Tomatoe). The oblique linear pattern depicts the surrounding sand dunes and also has an association with the traditional knotted hair belt worn by the women during initiation.