Milky Way Dreaming 1997

Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi made this painting, Milky Way Dreaming, layering dots of color on a dark ground, creating an image of the cosmos, born from process. It feels like I'm looking through a telescope, but also like the painting is a map, where each dot represents a place, a story, a point in time. The texture is built up through the accumulation of these tiny marks, and the overall effect is one of shimmering light against the deep black. The surface isn't smooth, but alive with variation, each dot a physical assertion, a tiny decision. There's something about this dedication to process, to the rhythm of dot after dot, that makes me think of Agnes Martin and her quiet, repetitive grids. But while Martin is all about minimalist reduction, Possum Nungurrayi embraces the richness of narrative and the abundance of the natural world. It reminds us that art is a conversation, a constant exchange of ideas.