Willy
Nakanbala Tjungarayai
Willy
Nakanbala Tjungarayi was the first child to be born to his parents Nurundu
Tjapaltjarri and Yalkitjarra Nakamarra after the family's arrival in Haasts
Bluff from the bush. Willy attended school in Haasts Bluff and was initiated
and later married there. Willy's sons Mervyn and Elkin now live in town and he
rarely sees them. His only surviving sibling, his sister Doris Bush, lives in
Papunya.
As a young
man Willy worked for the cattle station at Haasts Bluff "using horse,
camel, donkey - we learn there - driving truck for government" and later
drove cattle to Alice Springs and "put 'em on the train to Adelaide".
In the late 1950s Willy worked "for Harry Geise" at Papunya on the
building program for the new settlement. He also helped put in a bore at
Kintore in 1981 to replace the hand pump with which the community had started.
Willy
started painting in about 2006, working initially for a private dealer who was
operating in the Papunya community, later painting for the community art centre
Papunya Tjupi, established in 2007.
said
he paints because he enjoys it. When asked what he would like to do if he
could, his answer was "follow my track" - meaning the tracks of the
spiders depicted in his paintings who made a "road" traveling
underground west from Nyirrpi with the wallabies following behind them. Willy's
Tjupurrula cousin, who is 'policeman' or kurdungurlu for these
Dreamings, and his uncle taught Willy these stories.
Papunya
Tjupi art centre is located in Papunya NT, birthplace of the desert painting
movement. Many of its 150 artists are the relatives and descendants of the
founding group of artists in 1971.
