Kungka Kutjara

$300.00

As a senior law woman of the Kaltukatjara area, Martha Protty’s work draws significant inspiration from local landscape and Tjukurpa (dreaming) stories. She sings Inma (ceremony) songs continuously as she paints, her steady voice offering a rhythm for the brush. Martha’s whole family have lived and travelled in the Kaltukatjara area for generations, and her paintings are a tribute to her significant cultural and historical contribution to her community.

In this work, Martha interprets the Kungka Kutjara (Two Women) Tjukurpa. Kungka Kutjara is a creation story following two sisters who travel through the desert leaving significant landmarks in their wake. Martha’s painting focuses on a significant cultural site just outside Kaltukatjara where the two sisters stopped to rest under two big shade trees. It also shows features of the striking desert landscape such as kapi (rock holes), punu (trees) and puli (rocks).

Martha Protty was born south of Kaltukatjara (Docker River) at a rockhole, the name of which Martha cannot speak for cultural reasons. Her whole family are from Kaltukatjara country. Matha’s father’s country is Warakurna and her mother’s country Wingellina. She has one son and one daughter, and her husband has passed away. Her husband was from the other side of the Peterman Ranges. Martha has been painting, weaving tjanpi and carving punu for many years. She is a senior law woman and holds important Tjukurrpa songs for her country.