Annie Farmer Purungu comes from a family with a rich artistic tradition. She is the sister-in-law of well-known Aboriginal artist, Doctor George Ward Tjapaltjarri. Annie’s brother is also a well-known Pintupi artist, John John Bennett. Annie, herself, has become a highly regarded artist, and her works are sought after for the unique style in which she presents her country and its traditions.
The stories that Annie paints include important women’s dreamings and the body-paint designs associated with them. Annie’s use of bright colour is one of her trademarks. This colour is coupled with thick, layered paint and linear brushwork, typical of the Kintore region. She also paints the land surrounding Kintore, describing its hills, landmarks, waterholes and sacred sites. Annie often depicts men seated with spears as ‘U’ shapes next to a straight line. Women are represented as ‘U’ shapes as well, but usually gathered around a coolomon bowl, which appears as an oblong shape. Concentric half circles generally represent hills and sand dunes.
The surface narrative elements or the painting’s ‘story’ or ‘dreaming’ are one of the many layers of an Aboriginal paintings meaning. The imagery utilised by Aboriginal artists has deep cultural resonances that defy logic and narrative interpretations. The western viewer can however, intuitively feel this spiritual power without necessarily having to understand the details which are known by the initiated.
All works copyright Original & Authentic Aboriginal Art.
