Walala Tjapaltjarri mastered a simplified yet distinct visual style. His representation of sacred ancestral knowledge is very unique; abstracting traditional Pintupi designs and creating striking works with bold rectangular blocks of colour.
Tjapaltjarri was born in the early 1960s in the Gibson Desert, east of Kiwirrkura of Western Australia. Tjapaltjarri's family's arrival in Kiwirrkura in 1984 made international headlines that proclaimed the discovery of 'The Last Nomads'. At age 21, Walala had never encountered white Australians or their ways of life. The group had been following their traditional lifestyle in the country west of Lake Mackay.
Shortly after their settlement in Kiwikurra, inspired by his brother, now the esteemed artist Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Walala took to painting in 1990. His style was grounded by his culture and the sacred sites of his country. His subject matter from the outset was the Tingari cycle, a series of sacred and secret men’s mythological song cycles associated with a number of related sites in his Country in the Gibson Desert.
Having developed his style during the early 1990’s Tjapaltjarri produced a work on canvas in 1997 that was remarkably distinct from his previous work. The work posessed a geometric quality, and featured roundels, rectangles and lines set against a stark black background. This was the distinctive and individual style that laid the foundation for the remarkable body of work that he has completed since that time.