Sculpture | Judith Yinyika Chambers | Tjanpi | 42 x 20 x 14cm

This whimsical sculpture draws on the traditional practice of making manguri rings - a ring worn on the head made of woven grasses and cloth. Working with fibre in this way has become a fundamental part of Central and Western desert culture.  Here we see traditional techniques re-imagined using a mix of  traditional and contemporary materials - including wool! The result is a strikingly bold and colourful sculptural piece with layers of historical significance.

Judith Yinyika Chambers was born in the bush at a place called Mitika near Jameson Community in 1958 and now resides in the remote community of Warakurna, Western Australia. Judith’s mother was the well-known Tjanpi artist and painter Carol Maatja Golding. Judith is an accomplished weaver, making both baskets and fibre sculptures from desert grasses that grow close to her home. Judith uses the animals from her country as inspiration, including camp dogs, birds, goannas, porcupines and rabbits. Ancestral figures also inspire her work, and Judith’s work is very fine and detailed. Judith's fibre work has been widely exhibited and collected across Australia since 2007.

Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yakunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council, working with women in the remote Central and Western desert regions who earn an income from contemporary fibre art. Tjanpi (meaning grass in Pitjantjatjara language) represents over 400 Anangu/Yarnangu women artists from 26 remote communities on the NPY lands.

Tjanpi artists use native grasses to make spectacular contemporary fibre art, weaving beautiful baskets and sculptures and displaying endless creativity and inventiveness. Tjanpi embodies the energies and rhythms of Country, culture and community. The shared stories, skills and experiences of this wide-reaching network of mothers, daughters, aunties, sisters and grandmothers form the bloodline of the desert weaving phenomenon and have fuelled Tjanpi’s rich history of collaborative practice.

You can view other works by Tjanpi Desert Weaver by clicking here.

Details:
Materials: Tjanpi (dry harvested grass), wool, raffia
Size: 42 (L) x 20 (H) x 14cm (W)
Please note these measurements are approximate due to the 3D nature of Tjanpi sculptures.