Topsy Tjulyata

Topsy Tjulyata is an Aboriginal artist from central Australia. She makes wooden objects, known in Western Desert languages as puṉu. She makes these by carving the wood and then engraving patterns (walka) into its surface with a burning wire. This technique is called pokerwork. The wood she uses is sourced locally from the area around Uluṟu, where she lives. She makes both decorative sculptures and traditional tools. The patterns engraved into the objects depict Tjukurpa, spiritual stories about creation ancestors from the Dreamtime.