Leonie Kamutu – Dog Dreaming 40 cm

• Size: Cushion cover: 40 x 40 cm (16 x 16 inches)
• Fabric: Linen (front) and cotton (back)
• Colour: feature fabric base cloth is beige (called ‘hessian’) and the ink is a purple ombre. The reverse is black and closure is invisible zipper.

Design: Papa Tjurkurrpa – Dog Dreaming (Ancestral Creation Story).

This story is of the Papa Tjukurrpa – Dog Dreaming, which is the story of the artist’s father. It is of Niyuman, east of Kintore and it is secret men’s business.

The artist: Leonie Napaltjarri Kamutu

Leonie was born in the bush at Ikunytji (Haasts Bluff) in 1947. Her mother was Malyungka Nangala and her father was Kamutu Tjungarrayai. Her mother said she was from Tjukurla in WA. Leonie is the younger sister of Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra’s first wife, Susette. Leonie sees herself as the ‘younger auntie’ of Long Jack’s eldest daughter Charlotte Phillipus. Leonie attended school at Papunya. Her first husband was Dalton Abbott Ngala Bangarta, with whom she had two daughters. She had seven children with her second husband Kenny Lillius (b. 1951) of whom Kayleen Lillius is the eldest. Kenny was the brother of Kiwirrkura Chairman Jimmy Brown. Leonie says she is now on her own. She has many granchildren, some of them married with children of their own. Leonie’s Dreaming is Kanparraka or centipede. Kamutu’s dreaming was Mala (wallaby) and the country at Tjunginpa. Nyuman was her father’s and grandfather’s place, which is the place for the Dog Dreaming and the orange lizard Dreaming (Lingakurra). Her father’s brother was Tjungarrayi Kingsley, who was one of the first painters at Papunya in 1971.

Her sister Tilly Napaltjarri and her both learnt painting from their father’s brother.

Made from fabric hand screen printed in Australia by Publisher Textiles, Sydney.

Cushion made by Mrs Pichreay as a fair trade project in Cambodia by Flying Fox Fabrics.

The artist is paid royalties for every metre printed.