Women's Ceremony 

Makinti Napanangka created this painting, called Women's Ceremony, with acrylic on canvas. The canvas comes alive with rhythmic arrangements of colour and form. Linear patterns in warm yellows and deep purples dominate the composition. The artist’s distinct, striated brushstrokes create a visual texture that alludes to the patterns of the natural landscape. The painting offers an abstract representation of Aboriginal women’s ceremonial practices. The use of colour in horizontal blocks challenges the tradition of perspective, offering a multi-dimensional, de-centered field that is reminiscent of post-structuralist thought. The semiotic system that underlies the painting may decode the cultural codes which are embedded within it. The repetitive lines, when read as signs, point towards the performance and continuity of cultural rituals. It's clear that Napanangka's painting is not merely decorative. Rather, it functions as a complex visual archive. It invites the viewer to engage with the painting's formal qualities and consider the deeper cultural narratives contained within the work.