Purchased by the current owner directly from the artist, NT
Private Collection, NSW
Signed verso
Artwork story
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (c. 1932 -2002) was a foundational figure in the Western Desert movement, best known for transforming ancestral narratives into complex, dynamic compositions.
Carpet Snake Dreaming, follows the journey of the ancestral snake through country dotted with Spinifex grass.
The depiction of the carpet snake is not merely that of an animal - it is an ancestral presence whose movements shaped the landscape, waterholes, ceremonial grounds, and dictated social mores.
In this small work, Clifford brings together sacred cartography and painterly rhythm, creating a surface that is both layered and luminous.
The work exemplifies the narrative authority and formal clarity that set Clifford Possum apart from his peers.