Honey Ants (Tjupi) by Nora Campbell

Description

Artist: Nora Campbell

Cat#: 125-23

Size and medium: 50 x 76 cm Painting

Title: Honey Ants (Tjupi)

Nora has painted honey ant design. Honey Ants are a favourite bush tucker in the central desert region providing a much loved natural sugar source. Women hunt for honey ants together and feast on the delicious honey.

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Nora Campbell was born at Mount Dare Station, on the South Australian border. Her family later moved to Finke (Aputula), where her Father worked as a stockman. Nora recounts wonderful memories of those days, “travelling with family on camels back”. Nora moved to Titjikala in 1978, where she worked at Maryvale Station and was employed as a domestic helper, collecting water and wood for the homestead as well as tending to the goats and cattle.

Nora commenced painting at the Titjikala Art Centre in 1989.  Her work provides a record of many aspects of her early life, including long journeys to local ‘soaks’, collecting water in coolamons, and gathering bush tucker.

Representations in Nora’s work include bush fruits, wild flowers, honey ants and witchetty grubs. Her art is vibrant, full of life and movement, 

Nora learnt the craft of “punu” (wood carving) from her mother, and makes detailed wooden artefacts and animals, intricately carved and decorated with linear burn marks. She also enjoys weaving baskets and sculptures (tjanpi) from locally gathered grasses and raffia, creating jewellery from seeds and nuts sourced and traded throughout central Australia, ceramics and batik.

She talks of gathering materials for her creations from the lands around Titjikala and demonstrates a deep connection and love of this region.

Nora played a major role in the creation of Batik costumes for the tour of Germany by the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir.