Kungka Kutjarra (Two Women) 2001

Makinti Napanangka made 'Kungka Kutjarra', or 'Two Women', using acrylic on canvas. You can see how the painting just grows line by line, stripe by stripe, as if she's feeling her way across the canvas. The colour is so striking – these warm oranges and creamy whites. The paint isn't overworked, you can see the hand in it. Look closely at the way the lines curve and ripple; some areas are dense and solid, others more broken up. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, but with earthier tones, a groundedness that maybe speaks to the story of the two women in the title. What's great about painting is that it can hold so many things at once. A story, a place, a feeling, and just the pure joy of putting paint on canvas. It's all there, coexisting in the best possible way.