Historical information

Shorty Jangala Robertson (c1930s-2014)
Born Jila (Chilla Well). A large soakage clay pan near Yuendumu, approx 300kms north west of Alice Springs in Central Australia.

He lived a nomadic with his family having virtually no contact with white people during his youth but remembers leaving Jila for Mt Theo 'to hide' from being shot. His father died at Mt Theo and then with his mother he moved to the new settlement of Yuendumu.

His working life was full of adventure and he worked for different enterprises in the Alice Springs/Yuendumu area, finally settling at Yuendumu in 1967. In all of his travels and jobs over his whole working life, he escaped the growing Central Desert art movement. It was not until much later in his life that he began to paint.

Shorty Jangala Robertson uses strong colour of colour to depict his Dreamings, which include Ngapa (Water), Watiyawarnu (Acacia), Yankirri (Emu) and Pamapardu (Flying Ant). He continued to live at Yuendumu with his family until his passing in 2014.

Physical description

Colour sugarlift acquatint of fruit bats, printed in colour inks, from multiple stencils. The work features cross hatching (rarrk).

Inscriptions & markings

Signed with an X