Rockholes at Marrapinti

Doreen Reid Nakamarra began painting in 1996 when she and a group of women took up brushes at Kiwirrkura, Western Australia. After the death of her husband, artist George Tjampu Tjapaltjarri, Nakamarra’s painting emerged, with its own iconic style, including the fluid line work and fine application of subtle and restrained colour for which she became renowned.

Her painting Rockholes at Marrapinti tells of the important site of Marrapinti, west of Pollock Hills in Western Australia, and the women’s ceremony connected to the place. Nangala and Napangati women would camp there and make marrapinti (nose bones), and these would be inserted through the younger women’s nasal septums. The lineal patterning depicts the creek and sandhills at the site and produces a dazzling optical effect, which creates a sense of movement across the canvas. This rhythm in the painting alludes to the passage of women across Country, the undulating tali (sandhills) and the flowing water at the rockholes. 

Gloria Strzelecki, Associate Curator of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art