Walala was part of the famous "Lost Tribe" of 1984. At this time, Walala and eight other Pintupi relatives "came out of the bush" to see white man and white society for the first time. The event made international headlines, arousing many feelings of curiosity and amazement around the world. Prior to this, Walala and his relatives were nomads, living a traditional life of hunting and gathering.

His brother, Warlimpirrnga, who has also achieved international recognition in art, introduced Walala to painting. Walala paints the Tingari Cycle, an important Dreaming for the Pintupi people. In the Dreamtime, the Tingari ancestors are said to have travelled through the land in the Central and Western desert areas, creating particular sites and teaching some Aboriginal law. The Tingari Cycle incorporates the sacred sites visited along the way, and also refers to the song cycles which describe and connect the artist to this journey.

Walala paints the traditional Pintupi designs as well as combining them with his own unique, boldly graphic style. Walala incorporates his many Dreaming sites including Wilkinkarra, Maruwa, Tarrku, Njami and Yarrawangu, painting the important rockholes, sandhills, landforms, water soakages and ceremonial sites in the Gibson Desert.