72 AM 8501/12
May Chapman Mukurtu 2011
Acrylic on linen 905 x 905mm $3260
This painting shows the area around the warla (lake) at Mukurtu, an area east of Punmu Aboriginal Community in the Western Desert,
Western Australia. This country is dominated by extensive tali (sandhills).
This is the artist's country where she spent a lot of time growing up in the pujiman (bush) days. The artist and her sisters would collect bush
tucker in this area. May recalls "We collected seeds around here for grinding and making damper (bread). We were walking around here
in pujiman (bush) days, we were little girls with no clothes!".
May’s sister, Nancy Chapman says "Mukurtu is an important yinta (spring water) that is in the middle of a salt warla (lake). There is a lot
of yukiri (green vegetation) growing all around the edges, that needs to be pulled out and thrown away to get to the fresh water
underneath."