CYNTHIA BURKE

BORN c.1973 LIVES & WORKS Warakurna LANGUAGE GROUP Ngaanyatjarra

Cynthia Burke was born in Alice Springs and grew up in the central desert of Western Australia. She carries on the traditions of the Tjukurpa, the Law and way of life governing her Country.

In this work, Cynthia employs the technique of Walka, traditional desert design which is inextricably linked with Tjukurpa: the law and way of life of Yarnangu (Western Desert Aboriginal people). The symbols were traditonally used in cave, ground, and body paintings, in storytelling, teaching and signalling inheritance.

“I learned burning by watching my mother and other family members. I enjoy the burning process and how my designs grow on the wood.

The sculpture represents the story of water. After the rain, the water flows in the creeks and fills the waterholes. In the old days, Yarnangu walked around from waterhole to waterhole to survive and by doing so, followed the ancestral tracks.

I like to represent and remember this on my sculptures. My work represents the trees that lead us the way to find the water and the water is within them and around them, even if we can’t see it, their roots will still touch it.”

Kapi Punungka | Water in the Wood, 2023 Muur-muurpa | Desert Bloodwood

$850

REV23-94

Kapi Punungka | Water in the Wood, 2023

Muur-muurpa | Desert

Bloodwood

$2800

REV23-95