Deutscher and Hackett

A Pitjantjatjara man, Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri was born at Pirupa Akla near Kata Tjuta (Olgas) to the west of Uluru around 1920. As a young man he traveled across country eventually taking up residence at the Lutheran Mission at Haasts Bluff where he worked as a cook and where he met his wife Colleen Nampitjinpa. Later, he moved with his family north-west to the Amanturrungu Outstation near Mount Liebig in the Central Desert.

In 2004 he began to paint, making use of the studio facilities of the local Watiyawanu Artist collective renowned for its support of local women artists such as Wentja Morgan Napaltjarri, Lilly Kelly Napangardi, Ngoia Pollard Napaljarri and his wife Colleen Nampitjinpa. Under the guidance of Watiyawanu Artists, his work was included in six group exhibitions in 2006 and his first solo exhibition was held in Coffs Harbour the following year.

Rockholes Near The Olgas, 2008 is a large and bold painting that belongs to a group of works done just prior to his death in 2008 at the age of 87. These last works are distinguished by the introduction to his palette of cadmium orange and as in this case, an equally strong cadmium red. Based on his beloved country to the north-west of the Olgas, the paintings are evocative with a sense of ancient, traditional knowledge commensurate with his role as a senior ngangkari or traditional healer.

The painting tells of the ancestral creative acts of the Cockatoo, Crow and Eagle, who, through a series of epic confrontations, created the features of the Landscape. The rock holes were formed where the battling birds tumbled and crashed to the ground and the shards of white stone depicted here represent the cockatoo's feathers.

CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE