Fire Dreaming, 2004

synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen

194 x 307 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: Commissioned by Steve Nibbs, Yapa Art, NT Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW, Cat No. 7045 Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: Ronnie Tjampitjinpa’s Fire Dreaming (2004) is an expansive and commanding canvas, alive with the rhythmic pulse of fire. Painted in bands of glowing ochres and reds intersected by vertical black tracings, the work radiates both the heat and movement of flame, transforming Pintupi ceremonial knowledge into a mesmerising visual field. In the mid 1990s, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was amongst those Pintupi male artists who distilled complex Tingari narratives into bold, formal abstraction. Here, the fire is not simply a natural element but a force of spiritual continuity, evoking ancestral presence and the cosmological cycles of the Western Desert. The composition’s sheer scale and intensity envelop the viewer, echoing the performative and immersive qualities of the ceremonies it recalls. With its monumental format, and masterful handling of line and colour, Fire Dreaming stands as a quintessential example of Tjampitjinpa’s oeuvre and a powerful statement within the canon of desert painting.

Click to enlarge

c.1943 – 2023

synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen

194 x 307 cm

Price on application — enquire

Provenance: Commissioned by Steve Nibbs, Yapa Art, NT Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW, Cat No. 7045 Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: Ronnie Tjampitjinpa’s Fire Dreaming (2004) is an expansive and commanding canvas, alive with the rhythmic pulse of fire. Painted in bands of glowing ochres and reds intersected by vertical black tracings, the work radiates both the heat and movement of flame, transforming Pintupi ceremonial knowledge into a mesmerising visual field. In the mid 1990s, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was amongst those Pintupi male artists who distilled complex Tingari narratives into bold, formal abstraction. Here, the fire is not simply a natural element but a force of spiritual continuity, evoking ancestral presence and the cosmological cycles of the Western Desert. The composition’s sheer scale and intensity envelop the viewer, echoing the performative and immersive qualities of the ceremonies it recalls. With its monumental format, and masterful handling of line and colour, Fire Dreaming stands as a quintessential example of Tjampitjinpa’s oeuvre and a powerful statement within the canon of desert painting.