Lorna Napurrula Fencer - Yurmurrpa

Lorna Napurrula Fencer (c1924 – 2006) created some of the great paintings of the Yarla creation stories from Yurmurrpa on Warlpiri country in the Tanami Desert. These custodial stories revitalised the legends of Creation Ancestors who extracted the first Yarla or bush yam from the earth near the underground water site at Yurmurrpa.

These stories were nurtured by the Napurrula-Nakamarra kinship groups. Lorna Napurrula painted the various stories connected to Yurmurrpa using her free flowing and colour-laden style of painting. Lorna lived at the Warlpiri community of Lajamanu and made her paintings there and in the township of Katherine about 560 km north from her community.

Lorna exhibited widely from 1991 to 2006 and is represented in major collections and institutions including National Gallery of Victoria and Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory. Lorna began exhibiting at Japingka Gallery in 1999. The exhibition ‘Yurmurrpa’ will be on display at Japingka until 31 August 2026.