Katungka Napanangka
Language Group: Pintubi
Born: circa 1950 – 2007
Katungka is one of the daughters of Katarra Nampitjinpa, an important Pintupi artist who painted originally with the Papunya Tula Artists and then later with Ikuntji artists at Haasts Bluff. Katungka watched her mother and sister, Permungka, paint for many years but she only started painting regularly after her mother passed away in1999. She is a devout Christian who is married to Pastor Murphy and regularly participates in religious ceremonies. Katungka appears to reconcile both traditions with respect and integrity and is deeply committed to the transmission of knowledge of both cultures. Katungka paints her mother’s dreaming stories or Tjukurrpa from her country Ulkapa, near Kintore and the Tjukurrpa from her own country at Intinti, both of which are far west of Haast’s Bluff, over the West Australian border. The stories at Intinti involve women hunting for kuniya or carpet snakes with nulla nullas. The two kuniya disappear down rockholes, hiding from the women. Katungka lived in Alice Springs where she was a dialysis patient. In 2003 Katungka developed her white salt lake works. These have expanded and developed with fine marking all over the canvas. Shadow forms are seen as marks in the salt lake. These marks represent people travelling, the wind shifting the salt, animal tracks and the myriad marks left on the salt pan by even the most minor change in the environment.