Details of Kapitu Kapitu (water to water)

Catalog Number : 27259
Size : 152cm x 102cm
Medium : acrylic on linen
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Ngipi lives within the extremities of her desert country like her family before her had lived for countless thousands of generations.
The complexities of the stories covering huge areas of nomadic family sites are intersected by the journeys of many ancestral beings. The circular motifs in this painting represent the rockholes, soakage and clay pans, some more reliable sources of water than others, while the lines between show the walking tracks, creeks and sandhills (tali) in marking the journeys. Often the only source of water (kapi) in the Gibson Desert region, rockholes are vital to survival. Knowledge of these locations is essential. Within this painting, Ngipi portrays a huge area of country depicting the more reliable sources of water that have sustained her family. These are Tjantiwarra (two large rockholes), Patantja (a large clay pan with a watersnake - wanampi), Wandandarri (big rockhole), Tjanginya (two deep rockholes), Kurrutjiti (a creek bed with four rockpools, two deep ones with wanampi), Pirrin (a deep hole that people had to get inside to reach water) and Yarrpan (another site with a wanampi).
Ngipi's first son was born at Wandandarri. She was conceived, has lived, hunted and borne children in her desert country.