Water Dream

SELINA Napaltjarri Malbunka's ancestral land is in the Tanami Desert. She was born around 1970 in Hermannsburg (Ntaria). Established as a mission by German Lutherans in the late 1800s, it is smack bang in the middle of the continent and owes much of its fame as the birthplace of Albert Namatjira.

Selina carries art in her veins as the granddaughter of the esteemed Polly Napangardi Watson with her style said to draw inspiration from Timmy Payungka, a pioneer of the Papunya painting movement, often cited as giving birth to the First Nations art we see today. Selina's Water Dream serves as a reminder of the primacy and importance of water in the lives of people on country where she elevates her subject with a beauty that is both vivid and resonant.