George Tjungurrayi’s untitled painting relates to the claypan site of Mamultjulkulnga, on the western side of Wilkinkarra (Lake Mckay). This site is of great importance to the artist, whose father passed away here. After rain, the claypan becomes a shallow freshwater lake, and the small fleshy shrub known as mungilypa (Tecticornia verrucose) grows abundantly. During ancestral times, two Tingari men of the Tjungurrayi and Tjapaltjarri kinship subsections camped at this site to gather mungilypa. The men made spears, which they threw towards the east and west. The spears flew straight before turning north and south. Tjungurrayi’s linework in this painting traces the trajectory of the spears.
In this work, Tjungurrayi employs his signature two-tone palette and rhythmic linework to create an artwork that vibrates with the energy of spears hurtling through space. The complex optical striping also references the traditional technique of fluted wood carving and the paths of the Tingari, a group of ancestral Dreaming beings whose adventures created and transformed the landscape.