Wanakiji Jukurrpa (Bush Tomato Dreaming), 2021

Justine Nakamarra  

Justine Nelson Nakamarra belongs to one of the best known Central Desert art communities, Yuendumu. Like most Aboriginal painters, Debbie Brown's work evokes a story of the primordial Dreamtime, during which mythical beings (the Lightning Men, the Rainbow Python, the Yam, etc.) crossed Australia and founded the moral, religious and spiritual laws that still govern Aboriginal culture today.

This work deals with the Dreaming (Jukurrpa) of the ancestor of the Bush Tomato (Wanakiji) and his movements in the desert as seen from the sky. The Wanakiji is a small spiny plant with purple flowers that bear small green fruits filled with black seeds. Aborigines remove these seeds with a kajalarra (small wooden spoon) to eat the fruit.

The women of the clan where the bush tomato grows are responsible for maintaining the fertility of the site concerned and as such, they are responsible for the care of the land. In order to impart spiritual strength to the land to support the growth of the plants, the artist and the women of her clan group apply body paint, sing and dance during sacred ceremonies known as awelye, during which the ground is also painted using the dotted technique characteristic of Central Desert pictorial art, which Justine Nelson picks up here.

As this story can only be known in detail by the initiates of her people, the artist only indicates that it is related to the sacred site of Yaturlu (Mount Theo), located north of Yuendumu. The lines that appear on the canvas symbolise, seen from the sky, the paths taken by the ancestor. The artist highlights them by using the multiple colours that adorn the plant.

In making this work, Justine Nelson is performing a ritual action to maintain the fertility of this sacred site.