Patju Presley, Wakura, 2023

We are honoured to introduce #PatjuPresley. Patju Presley was born (c.1940s) at Itaratjara, an important site between the community settlements of Watarru and Kalayapiti in the Great Victoria Desert of Australia. He is a senior Pitjantjatjara Law man with great knowledge of the geography of the Western Desert and the associated Tjukurpa (creation period). His intimate knowledge of the country is directly related to survival in this beautiful but sometimes harsh environment learned from the generations of his ancestors.

Patju paints with a spiritual confidence of someone who knows their rightful place in the creation, often singing the associated songs of particular sites whilst rhythmically placing a myriad of dots to form striking compositions. Here he depicts the significant site of Wakura that holds Wati Tawalpa Tjukurpa [Crescent Nail-Tailed Wallaby Songline]. Patju says “A lot of story, this one here. That’s my area Wakura. Apulili and Wakura. Apulili first one then Wakura and Nyulupiti [names of places]. Good Country hey! That’s my area. The two places Wakura and Apulili are close up [to each other]. Watiku Tjukurpa pulka [a significant men’s ceremonial site] miilmiilpa, really sacred one. Dangerous country. Watiku [men’s]. This is the place of the one man, Wati Tawalpa [Crescent Nail-Tailed Wallaby Man]. He was travelling all around”. These characters that Patju depicts within a living, breathing landscape are the creation beings who shaped the immediate environment as they moved through it, leaving a moral narrative etched into the physical domain as testament to their power and presence. It is this physical and spiritual existence that cannot be separated for Patju and is what gives his work the transcendent quality we experience while viewing.

Artwork: Wakura, 2023 (acrylic on linen) ©Patju Presley. Courtesy of the artist and Spinifex Arts

This artwork commission was supported by Agency Projects, Spinifex Arts Projects, and Vivian Anderson Gallery

Video courtesy of UAP, Spinifex Arts Projects & Agency Projects