Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency states on the certificate for this painting that Warkartu Cory Surprise titled this painting ‘Jilji this one, in the Great Sandy Desert, my country’.
www.mangkaja.com/content/wakartu-cory-surprise goes on to say:
Kumanjayi [deceased] Surprise was a highly regarded, award-winning contemporary artist known for her uninhibited painting style. She was born at Tapu in the Great Sandy Desert circa 1929. Before Kumanjayi Surprise passed away, she told this story:
Tapu is my father’s country and Kurtal is my mother’s country. My parents died when I was a baby. I grew up at Wayampajarti and that is my country now. I don’t remember my mummy or daddy. They passed away in the desert. When I was crawling my sister-in-law Trixie took me to Christmas Creek. I was promised to one old man who had two wives. We had no clothes when we went in. We were frightened of the Station Manager so we ran away from that place. Two times we ran away to the desert. continued …