Walala Tjapaltjarri Indigenous Australian (Pintupi), b. 1960

The Tingari were a group of ancestral beings that emerged from the earth and conducted activities that led to the formation of the landscape and its inhabitants. The content of these ancient stories remains the exclusive knowledge of the initiated men.

Walala Tjapaltjarri mainly paints square patterns that refer to stories from the Tingari Cycle, a collection of religious stories, ceremonies, and laws transmitted to the inhabitants of the Western Desert by the Tingari. This was a group of mythical and spiritual beings who, according to the lore, passed through the landscape, performing rituals and shaping the landscape and different sacred places. Walala is widely praised as an adventurous and innovative artist. His work is characterized by a combination of traditional patterns and a degree of sophisticated abstraction. He has been praised by art critic Robert Hughes, including Walala in his series of BBC documentaries "Beyond the Fatal Shore" (2000).

The painting depicts “tali tjuta” – many Sandhills of the Marruwa area West of Lake McKay.

In a minimal linear style, the artist has depicted a particular site known as Wanapatangu, which is recorded as being northeast of Wilkinkarra (Lake McKay) in Western Australia. This is one of the points where the Tingari ancestors stopped for ceremonial and social activity in their long journey across the desert and now remains as a significant ceremony site for the Pintupi men.

According to the artist, the rectangles mark the watery areas that surround Wanapatangu.