Rosie Napurrurla Tasman

Born: c.1927
Birth Place: Pawarta
Skin Name: Napurrurla
Language: Warlpiri

Napurrurla was born at Pawarla, north of the Granites area in the Tanami Desert. She has ancestral rights over the wampana (wallaby), janganpa (possum), ngurlu (seed) and kulukuku (bush pigeon) Dreamings, which were passed from her father, Wayipurlungu.

Tasman’s traditional country, Miya Miya and Pawarla and the Dreamings associated with these particular sites, provide the inspiration and imagery for her distinctive paintings. She says that painting provides her with a happy way in which to make her culture strong.

Rosie Napurrurla Tasman was first introduced to the medium of acrylic paint in 1986 when the first works from Lajamanu were created for a public audience. Since then, painting has played a fundamental role in the ritual and ceremonial life of her family. Both of her siblings, Teddy Japurrurla Morrison and Molly Napurrurla Tasman are establised artists in the Lajamanu community, and her daughter Denise Napangardi Robertson is one of the younger generation of Warlpiri artists.

Tasman’s work alternates between intricate dotted circular motifs and bold gestural brush strokes. Her palette oscillates from traditional ochre colours to a freer application of bright yellows, reds and blues. In her janganpa (possum) Dreaming, she employs a technique of a white monochrome background to enhance the kuruwarri (ancestral designs) of the janganpa ancestor and his travels across the country. Her ngurlu (seed) Dreamings employ a technique where the iconography of the seed is mirrored in a background circular pattern of dots. This reinforces the essential elements of the seed Dreaming.

She says that painting provides her with a ‘happy way’ in which to make her culture strong. Rosie Napurrurla Tasman was first introduced to the medium of acrylic paint in 1986, when the first works from Lajamanu were created for a public audience. Since then, painting has played a fundamental role in the ritual and ceremonial life of her family. Both of her siblings, Teddy Japurrurla Morrison and Molly Napurrurla Tasman, are establised artists in the Lajamanu community, and her daughter, Denise Napangardi Robertson, is one of the younger generation of Warlpiri artists.

Collections:
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Donald Kahn Collection, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Unwin Collection, Adelaide Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, Darwin NT

Exhibitions:
1986 People, Place, Art, Hilton International Hotel, Adelaide, SA
1987 Lajamanu Community Exhibition, Warlpiri Art from the North Tanami, Lajamanu, NT.
1989 A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne, Vic, Design Warehouse Sydney, NSW [through Lauraine Diggins Fine Art].
1990 Paint Up Big: Warlpiri Women’s Art of Lajamanu, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic, Lajamanu Dreamings, Technical and Further Education College, Darwin, NT.
1991 Ngurra Mala, les lieux du Reve, Ecole des beaux-arts, Grenoble, France, Lajamanu Dreamings 2, Technical and Further Education College, Darwin, NT, Aboriginal Art, Australian Embassy, Washington, USA Peintures du desert australien, Douarnenez, France, Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu, Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris, Lajamanu Warlpiri Artists from Warnayaka, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Sydney, NSW.
1992 Maintaining the Dreaming, University of Wollongong Long Gallery in Association with Coo-ee Aboriginal Art.
1993 The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT.
1994 Yapakurlangu Wirrkardu, Batchelor College, Tennant Creek, NT.
1996 The Rainbow Serpent, Vaucluse, NSW, Galerie Kouwanhoven, DELFT, The Netherlands.
1997 Indigenart, Perth, WA, Batchelor College, Darwin, NT, Gallery Artis, Boschveld 471, De Bosch, The Netherlands, Innenseite Projektgruppe Stofwechsel, Kassel, Germany, Innenseite Projektgruppe Stofwechsel, Gottingen, Germany, Goteborgs Konstforenong, Goteborg, Sweden, Dreamings Aboriginal Kunst uit Australie, Eusebiuskerk, Amhem, The Netherlands, BOSS WOMEN, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.
1998 Culture Store, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Dreamings, Vlaams-Europeesch, Conterentoentrum, Brussles, Belgium, Dreamings, Spazio Pitte Arte, Florence, Italy, The Hagure Unites the Nations, Grote Kerk, The Hague, The Netherlands, Warnayaka Warlpin, Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT, Robert Steele Gallery, New York, USA.
2000 Lajamanu Warlpiri Artists, Yuwayi Gallery, Sydney, NSW in Association with Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Lajamanu, Japingka Gallery, Fremanle, WA
2001 Warlpiri Artists from Lajamanu, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA
Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Allison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.
2002 New Works from Lajamanu, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Sydney, NSW

Bibliography:
Diggins, L. (ed.), 1989, A Myriad of Aboriginal Dreaming: Twentieth Century Art, exhib. cat., Malakoff Fine Art Press, North Caulfield, Victoria
Glowczewski, B., 1991, Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu, Lebon Gallery, Paris
Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, New South Wales (C)
Ryan, J., 1990, Paint Up Big: Warlpiri Women’s Art of Lajamanu, Craftsman Press.

Artworks

Seed Dreaming - 2011 - BBB0094
Rosie Napurrurla Tasman
  • $1,850.00
Seed Dreaming - 2012 - BBB0053
Rosie Napurrurla Tasman
  • $450.00