Ned Grant

2019, acrylic on linen
2000 x 1370 mm
Cat No. 19-143

Selected: Men from Spinifex Country
Spinifex Arts Project

Ned Grant weaves the wata (root systems) from the Ngalta (desert kurrajong), Katiya (western myall) and kukara (sheoak) through the vast country they inhabit, making them reach across the significant sites, linking the landscape together and giving the flora the powerful presence it commands. These trees are all part of the spiritual fabric that permeates the environment that Ned Grant depicts, a landscape formed by the first beings as they traversed it, leaving indelible physical reminders of their power and presence.

In this composition, Ned places the sites holding the Tjintir-Tjintirpa Tjukurpa (Willy Wagtail Creation Line) a religious narrative that follows the unfolding events of Minyma Tjintir-Tjintirpa (Willy Wagtail Woman), whose name is Yina, as she traverses the surrounding terrain, leaving behind the drama in the physical realm at the sites of Yawarnya, Munyul and Kukaratja. Then further still in country connected by the flora Ned depicts, the sites of Tjutalatjara, Apalinya, Miratipi and Pirakara.