EUBENA NAMPITJIN - MIDJUL

 EUBENA NAMPITJIN
MIDJUL,  2007
60 x 91 cm
synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen
 
PROVENANCE
Balgo Hills, WA
Warlayirti Artist Catalogue No. 1299/07Private Collection, NSW 
 
STORY
Eubena has painted some of her country south west of Balgo along the middle streches of the Canning Stock Route. The majority of the painting shows the tali (sandhills) that dominate this country. The central circle is tjurrnu (sockwater) named Midjul. This is the country where Kinyu the spirit dog lives. Eubena would often cover Midjul with leaves so Kinyu wouldn't come out and would also leave gifts of goanna for Kinyu.BiographyEubena (Yupinya) is the best known of Warlayirti Artists' many artists. She is one of the most esteemed Law women in the community, being consulted and deferred to on all questions of Law. Mukaka, Eubena's mother, together with her uncle, gave her Maparn (traditional healer) skills when Eubena was just a young girl. In her formative years Eubena and her family travelled and hunted, performing ceremonies and Law to look after their country in the Great Sandy Desert, as well as for their own spiritual preservation. Nomadie life was harsh and most of her extended family had passed away or moved to other parts of the country by the time Eubena had first contact with non-Aboriginal people.Eubena with her first husband, the late Gimme, and family travelled up the Canning Stock Route to Billiluna Station before following the mission as it moved around, until the mission was established at its present site at Balgo. At the mission Eubena and Gimme helped Father Piele with a Kukatja dictionary. Today Eubena is one of the few people who maintains a full vocabulary of the Kukatja language. Despite living at the mission and tending herds of goats, Eubena continually travelled back to her country, living in and from the land for extended periods. Her extraordinary hunting instinct, which remains today, combines with an effortless energy when she is out in the country.Eubena started painting with her second husband Wimmitji in the mid 1980s. Their work(s) shared a lumious and intricate complexity along with a love of the warm reds, oranges and yellows that continue to be Eubena's signature today. Eubena's reputation grew, as one half of the famous painting duo in Balgo, but also as a solo artist in her own right. Eubena has a spontaneity and strength of brush mark that carved the paint, leaving rhythmical tracks across the canvas. Her work resonates with the power of place and intimate knowledge of country that Eubena has been able to maintain throughout her life. Painting is like her second language and she paints persistently with passion and dedication, weaving stories from the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) as well as her personal history and knowledge. Eubena has travelled extensively to attend exhibition openings around the country.