Wilkinkarra/Lake Mackay 2000

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri made this painting, Wilkinkarra/Lake Mackay, maybe without any specific date, using dots, lines and a careful layering process. The ochre undulations in this piece remind me of Agnes Martin’s grids, but where Martin's are about quiet, almost empty space, Warlimpirrnga's hum with activity. Each line, built from countless tiny dots, seems to vibrate against the dark ground. Look at how the ochre colour becomes brighter, fainter and brighter again as it moves across the piece. The texture is alive. The work is a map and a memory, pulsing with the artist's connection to his homeland. It's a conversation between tradition and innovation, between seeing and knowing, between the personal and the universal. To my eye, it's about art being an ongoing, evolving exploration, where answers are less important than the questions we ask along the way.