About this artwork

Niningka’s walka here is the Kungkarangkalpa, the Tjukurpa of the Seven Sisters. The women are pursued by a cunning man called Nyiru who attempts to lure them into marriage with him. They travelled through a vast amount of Australia and this walka is a stage in that journey showing the women seated at a fire with Nyiru lurking nearby. The women each have a wana (digging stick) and Nyiru has his kulata (spears).

In the escape from him they stopped to camp, build shelters and hunt for food, thus forming many features of the landscape. Eventually they fled into the sky where they became the constellation known as the Pleaides or Seven Sisters. Nyiru of course is still following them ceaselessly across the night sky as one of the bright stars in the constellation known as Orion.

This work has been created using hot wire etching and dot painting in acrylic paint on structural plywood. It is currently unframed.