Untitled (Lupulnga) 2008

Makinti Napanangka made this painting using acrylic on canvas, but honestly, it looks like it could have been oil pastel, right? There's something so immediate about the directness of the mark making here. The lines feel like they've been drawn on, not painted with finesse, and this contributes to an exciting rawness. The colour palette is high key, which gives the painting a euphoric glow, but there's a subtle use of lavender and peach in the upper register that feels just right. I love that the surface is built up from many, many small gestures. The painting is almost granular, and you can almost feel the repetitive rhythm of the artist’s hand as she applied the paint. I keep coming back to the bottom left corner, where the density of yellow builds into a kind of energetic mass. For me this feels like the key to the whole piece, like a contained explosion. I am reminded of Hilma af Klint, another visionary artist, though the touch here feels very different. The beauty of art is that it keeps expanding outwards.