This painting is Pirilyinya north of Tjuntjuntjara. My country. Puyatu and Pirilyinya hold the Seven Sisters Creation line. There you can see the women sitting at the waterhole and that man Nyiru is close up behind the (small) tree.
Ian Rictor depicts the significant site of Pirilyi that holds the Minyma Tjuta (Seven Sisters) Tjukurpa. This is an epic that follows a group of young women as they traverse the country evading the pursuit of a lustful man named Nyiru. It is here at Pirilyi where Nyiru spies the women and as they make their escape he throws a large stick that breaks the leg of the older sister. The other women carry her to safety. These are creation beings and as such were able to shape the landscape as they moved throughout it, leaving indelible physical reminders of their power and presence. Ian shows the actions of Nyiru and the sisters at Pirilyi, in the form of wanari punu (trees) that characterise this site and kapi piti (rockholes) marking where the sisters cautiously sit. A smaller tree close to the piti indicates where Nyiru is positioned. Ian has also included the nearby site of Puyatu, that is significant to the travels of Minyma Tjuta on their journey across Spinifex country.
Ian Rictor was born at Artulin / Tuwan c1955 and is a custodian and traditional owner of Tuwan, a significant site in the heart of Spinifex Country. Ian paints with a quiet reverence for the country that he depicts, from his relatively recent nomadic movements over the endless interior that makes up Spinifex Lands. Ian walked from water source to food source and beyond. This was a cultural and family existence for survival in an arid land before his family were located and ‘ brought in’ by relatives in 1986, and they are the last of the known Aboriginal people to have remained living traditionally in the Great Victoria Desert. In 1997 when the Spinifex Arts Project first began Ian was keen to join the group of painters. He took to the medium of paint on canvas with fluency and has been painting his birthplace and surrounding country since then and has exhibited and been collected in both Australia and overseas. Ian is an impressive and skilled hunter, bush mechanic and craftsman who lives in Tjuntjuntjara Community with his extended family.
Desert Mob is presented annually in Mparntwe | Alice Springs on Arrernte Country.
On behalf of Desart’s staff and art centre members, the Executive Committee humbly and respectfully acknowledge the Arrernte Apmereke Artweye (Traditional Owners) and Kwertengerle (Traditional Managers) of Mparntwe.
Desart respectfully advises Aboriginal readers that this website may contain names, images and artworks of people who have passed away.
