Biography

Originally from Yuendumu in the Central Desert, Jason Woods Japaltjarri is married to Senita Granites, an artist from the Yuendumu community. They often collaborate on some large paintings, she mainly helps him with the backgrounds. They have a daughter named Mikaella.

Jason Woods evokes the Dream of Watiya-Warnu in his works. This dream belongs to the clan of Nampijinpa/Nangala women and Jampijinpa/Jangala men. Dreams are stories passed down orally from generation to generation; knowledge of them is a very long process that begins in childhood through initiation ceremonies. During these ceremonies, participants paint their bodies and dance while singing epics to the sound of percussion (often digging sticks or spears for the inhabitants of the central desert). These dreams explain the actions of the great ancestors (men, animals, plants, reptiles, trees, fruits, etc.) who created the world in the Dreamtime and whose exploits established the rules of life, the law.

Watiya-warnu, also called acacia tenuissima, is a shrub endemic to Australia. This Dream tells the story of a Jangala ancestor who collected seeds of this plant on the hills of Mount Liebig, Yamunturrngu. Once the seeds are collected, he places them in parrajas, which are wooden gathering baskets, to return to his village. Some seeds are then sown in shelters protected from the wind, the others are used to make a remedy to cure stomach aches.

Like most Central Desert artists, Jason Woods Japaltjarri uses dot painting, or pointillism, which is inspired by ground paintings traditionally made during ritual ceremonies.