Pansy Napangardi

This painting is about the Kungka Kutjarra (Ancestral Women) at Wiyinpirri. Panpanpulong (the bellbird man) never stops singing love magic. The women are running south. The 2 women are represented by the 2 U shapes at the centre of the painting. The journey south is represented by the 4 wavy lines that connect with the camp site at the centre. The journey is also shown as the repetitive roundels down the centre of the painting representing the daily campsites. The bellbird man’s footprints can be seen around the edge of the painting. Pansy explained that the bellbird man was like her grandfather – always chasing women. However, in this case, she is alluding to a taboo skin relationship as the bellbird man was wanting the make love to the 2 sisters – not allowed by law and punishable by death to both sides. Perhaps the bellbird man was the father of the 2 sisters. The songline created by this journey going south from Alice Springs joins up the the east/west songline of the Seven Sisters that goes right across into Western Australia.