Linda Syydick Napaltjarri
Linda Syydick Napaltjarri - The Windmill and the Witchdoctor
Linda was born c1937 near Lake Mackay in the Gibson Desert, W.A. Linda’s father Rintje Tjungarrayi was killed in an inter-tribal spearing when Linda was an infant.She was then raised by her step father Shorty Tjungarrayi, who was one of the original group of Pintupi men to start painting in the early 1970’s.Linda was taught to paint by Shorty before his death in 1987. He instructed Linda to keep painting.
She has since developed her own style with the merging of her tribal upbringing and her Lutheran education.Linda also paints Tingari dreamings, her father’s Emu story and mother’s snake story which depict both mythological stories and events of traditional life in the desert.
Linda is represented in many galleries and collections worldwide and has designed one of the ceilings for Star City Casino, Sydney. Unique ,colourful and expressive, her art is in demand .
The painting of “The windmill and witchdoctor” recalls a story from her own childhood, when a first encounter with a windmill became a battle with a monster.