Lawrence Pennington Australian, Pitjantjatjara, b. 1934

At thetime of Lawrence’s birth in the early 1930’s, his people, the Spinifex people had no contact with Western civilization. Lawrence grew up as a young boy living afully traditional hunter-gatherer life. His initiations as a young man in this country have given Lawrence intimate knowledge in a physical as well as a spiritual sense of the sites and stories of the area he was born and responsible for. He was born just outside of the north-eastern boundary of Spinifex at a place called Urlu circa 1934. Running through the length Lawrence’s stretch of country is the Walawuru (wedge-tailed eagle) Dreaming. Not surprisingly the dominant topographical feature inLawrence’s country is a string of craggy topped breakaways. In parallel alignment off to the south run a series of thinly connected dry salt lakes and naturally underscoringthese features reddish sand plains. Depending on the character of the light, Lawrence’s country can at differenttimes appear hauntingly bleak or soaringly beautiful. His spacious, iconographic paintings vibrate with culture and beauty. Likehis contemporaries Lawrence was pulled in to Cundeelee Mission during the sweeps in the late 1950s. He came in a young Wati (initiated man), married late in Cundeelee and had one son. Lawrence painted in the early years, collaboratively and individually before leaving Tjuntjuntjara for about 7 years. He returned on a permanent basis when his son went through Men’s Law at Tjuntjuntjara.