ANDREA ADAMSON
Andrea Adamson
Bio: Andrea Adamson. b Mala, near Alice Springs. (No birth date). Daughter to Kukika Adamson and niece to Rini Tiger (both senior Anangu/Arrente artists). She paints her country, the sandhills, the rocks, the water holes. People are usually shown in a ‘U’ shape. She tells the famous Seven Sisters Dreaming Story. Seven Sisters are pursued through the country by Wati (man) Nyiru. Nyiru fell in love with the sisters but he was of the wrong skin group to marry. He still pursued them. As the sisters fled from him their steps created the land of the Mala country — the hills, the gullies, the creeks and the rock pools. They eventually created a deep water hole which went under a rock. They escaped Nyiru by diving in to the rock pool coming out the other side and flying into the sky. Wati Nyiru can be seen in the night sky chasing the Seven Sisters.
Bio: Andrea Adamson. b Mala, near Alice Springs. (No birth date). Daughter to Kukika Adamson and niece to Rini Tiger (both senior Anangu/Arrente artists). She paints her country, the sandhills, the rocks, the water holes. People are usually shown in a ‘U’ shape. She tells the famous Seven Sisters Dreaming Story. Seven Sisters are pursued through the country by Wati (man) Nyiru. Nyiru fell in love with the sisters but he was of the wrong skin group to marry. He still pursued them. As the sisters fled from him their steps created the land of the Mala country — the hills, the gullies, the creeks and the rock pools. They eventually created a deep water hole which went under a rock. They escaped Nyiru by diving in to the rock pool coming out the other side and flying into the sky. Wati Nyiru can be seen in the night sky chasing the Seven Sisters.
SHANE AMBRUM
Bio: Shane Ambrum. b. 1968, Innisfail, North Queensland. His mother’s people were Birri Birri from Charters Towers and members of her family suffered from forced relocation. His father was directly descended from South Sea Islanders blackbirded from Ambrum Island in the 1800s to labour in cane fields. His work explores themes of family connections, dispossession and separation.
Art work no longer available.
Art work no longer available.
NATALIE AUSTIN
Natalie Austin was born in Port Augusta, South Australia, in 1964 and was raised in Coober Pedy. She is a descendant of the Antikirinya, Southern Kokatha and Yankunytjatjara peoples. Austin was taught by her mother to paint in 1999. Exhibitions include 'Our Mob’ at the Adelaide Festival Centre and the 2008 'Ripples in the Sand’ exhibition at the Port Augusta Cultural Centre.
TERESA BAKER
Teresa Baker was born in Alice Springs in 1977 and grew up in Kanpi where she lived with her grandparents, the celebrated artist Jimmy Baker and his wife. At the time she was first in Kanpi, the community was in its early stages of development and had no houses. Later she moved to Fregon to live with her mother, artist Kay Baker. She completed her schooling in Fregon and in Adelaide. After leaving school, Teresa began working at a Kanpi school teaching Pitjanjara language.
Teresa started painting in 2005 at Tjungu Palya art centre where she was taught by her grandfather, Jimmy. Teresa is a talented and intuitive artist, whose paintings possess a great depth of expression. Many of her works depict the woman's creation figure, Marlilu.
As of 2019 Teresa is married with three children and currently spends her time between Alice Springs, Kanpi and her homelands at Watarru.
Teresa started painting in 2005 at Tjungu Palya art centre where she was taught by her grandfather, Jimmy. Teresa is a talented and intuitive artist, whose paintings possess a great depth of expression. Many of her works depict the woman's creation figure, Marlilu.
As of 2019 Teresa is married with three children and currently spends her time between Alice Springs, Kanpi and her homelands at Watarru.
SHIRLEY BRAY
Shirley Bray has won the highly prestigious Blake Religious Art Prize (2007). She is undoubtedly one of the hardest working, most professional contemporary ochre artists and certainly one of the most talented.
Born on Mabel Downs Station, she grew up there whilst her mother Madigan Thomas was working alongside the stockmen. Like her mother, Shirley is a great organiser, strong lady and well respected Law and Culture Woman amongst her Kitja people. She now resides at Norton Bore Community, of which she and her husband Gordon Barney (a senior painter in his own right).
Born on Mabel Downs Station, she grew up there whilst her mother Madigan Thomas was working alongside the stockmen. Like her mother, Shirley is a great organiser, strong lady and well respected Law and Culture Woman amongst her Kitja people. She now resides at Norton Bore Community, of which she and her husband Gordon Barney (a senior painter in his own right).
MARJORIE BROWN
NYUNMITI BURTON
Nyunmiti is Vice Chair of NPY Women's Council and Director of Tjala Arts.
She paints her country and remembering stories passed down to her from her father, mother and grandfather.
Nyunmiti shares expressions of her country and reflects on the knowledge passed down to her from her father, mother and grandfather when she paints.
She paints her country and remembering stories passed down to her from her father, mother and grandfather.
Nyunmiti shares expressions of her country and reflects on the knowledge passed down to her from her father, mother and grandfather when she paints.
NOLA CAMPBELL
SALLY CLARK
Sally Clark. PHD in Philosophy (Fine Arts, UNSW). Lives in S.E.Queensland. Winner of Chroma Australia Prize. Has had artist residencies in Paris and Beijing. She uses a highly charged colour palette and sells internationally. A collectable artist.
RODNEY COOK
PULPURRU DAVIES
ANDREA DAWSON
TOM DJUMBURPUR
Bio: he was born in the early 20th century in Djilpin, Southwest of Ramingining at the top of the Goyder border. After his parents died in the 1930s he lived with his uncle and continued the traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle away from the local Mission. He was initiated at Murrwangi. Taught to paint in the traditional manner on bark by his second father Charlie Wagirr, he had his first show in 1983 in Melbourne where then Federal Minister Clyde Holding bought several of his bark works. He exhibited in Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Canberra and Adelaide.
His paintings are usually on bark, shaped like a shield and use a white clay and ochres with a background of crosshatching (rarely and geometric shapes, sacred rocks and circular symbols representing waterholes.
He generally used minimalist brushstokes on bark with traditional body paint designs to show the important creation story of the Wagilag Sisters. He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Victoria Gallery, Northern Territory Art Gallery, Holmes a Court Collection in West Australia and numerous private collections. He is mentioned in numerous books in indigenous art.
His paintings are usually on bark, shaped like a shield and use a white clay and ochres with a background of crosshatching (rarely and geometric shapes, sacred rocks and circular symbols representing waterholes.
He generally used minimalist brushstokes on bark with traditional body paint designs to show the important creation story of the Wagilag Sisters. He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Victoria Gallery, Northern Territory Art Gallery, Holmes a Court Collection in West Australia and numerous private collections. He is mentioned in numerous books in indigenous art.
JANET NYUNMITJI FORBES
BARNEY ELLAGA
Bio. 1945-2015. He was a senior law man within his Alawa community. His later work became more abstract and bears his unique style of subtle but brilliant hues and a distinctive approach to balanced composition. Every mark he makes on his canvases using his feathered brushwork technique relates intimately to his cultural and spiritual connection to Alawa. This includes his more contemporary pieces which are highly sought after.
SALLY GABORI
1924-2015. She is one of the true giants of indigenous art. Sally’s tribal name means ‘dolphin born at Mirdidingka. Until 1947, she lived without western contact before she and the Kaiadilt people were moved to Mornington Island. She bore 11 children there.
She didn’t start to paint until her 80s. She took immediately to the medium of paint and canvas with a strong predilection to brilliant colours, sharply defined flowing shapes, and strong gestural brush strokes evoking the tropical islands, pools of tropical fish, ancient rock wall fish traps and the juncture of rock cliffs and sweeping ocean.
Her unique style and the monumental scale of her work took the art world by storm with works exhibited in the UK, USA, NZ, Korea and mainland Europe. She is represented in the Australian National Gallery, Victorian, West Australian and Queensland Art Galleries, Auckland and Netherlands indigenous art gallery and numerous private collections. She also represented Australia in the 55th Venice Biennale and was part of the largest exhibition of Australian Art at London’s Royal Academy in half a century.
After her death in 2015, the executor and beneficiaries of her estate established a foundation in her honour. Fourteen of her massive paintings were gifted to the Queensland Art Gallery and formed the basis of a major retrospective at both the QAG and Victoria National Gallery in 2016/17. A massive 100m version of her painting greets visitors at the Brisbane International Airport.
She didn’t start to paint until her 80s. She took immediately to the medium of paint and canvas with a strong predilection to brilliant colours, sharply defined flowing shapes, and strong gestural brush strokes evoking the tropical islands, pools of tropical fish, ancient rock wall fish traps and the juncture of rock cliffs and sweeping ocean.
Her unique style and the monumental scale of her work took the art world by storm with works exhibited in the UK, USA, NZ, Korea and mainland Europe. She is represented in the Australian National Gallery, Victorian, West Australian and Queensland Art Galleries, Auckland and Netherlands indigenous art gallery and numerous private collections. She also represented Australia in the 55th Venice Biennale and was part of the largest exhibition of Australian Art at London’s Royal Academy in half a century.
After her death in 2015, the executor and beneficiaries of her estate established a foundation in her honour. Fourteen of her massive paintings were gifted to the Queensland Art Gallery and formed the basis of a major retrospective at both the QAG and Victoria National Gallery in 2016/17. A massive 100m version of her painting greets visitors at the Brisbane International Airport.
MADELINE GIBSON
BELINDA GOLDER
Belinda Golder Kngwarreye. No birth date. Utopia. Daughter of Bessie Petyarre and granddaughter of Polly Ngala. Her work features Bush Plum Dreaming which she renders with a large heavily loaded paint brush working in layers of dots in subtle monochromatic colours. Her work is reminiscent of the great impressionist painter Claude Monet. “The dots create the effect of flowering plants, the scattered seeds of the Bush Plum and the landscape after heavy rain.” (Source: Aboriginal Art Galleries). The women of her community celebrate the significance of the Bush Plum in their Alwerye ceremonies.
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WILLY GUDUPI
WEAVER JACK
HELEN MCCARTHY, KAPUK
JANET GOLDER KNGWARREYE
Born 1973 to Margaret Golder and Sammy Pitjara. She is an Anmatyerre woman from the famous painting community of Utopia in the Central Australia desert north of Alice Springs. Utopia has been the home of some of the most famous indigenous artists (such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye). Her grandfather was Henry Pitjara and her grandmothers are artists Angelina Ngala and Polly Ngala. Janet is married to another artist Ronnie Bird Jungala.
She uses traditional dot painting as well as more linear techniques to convey Awelye (traditional body painting). Her canvases are large, dynamic, complex and colourful. She pours her heart and spirit into these paintings which represent very personally her knowledge and connection to her land. She paints the leaves of various plants which are used for traditional medicine as well as being authorised to paint about Mountain Devil, Lizard and Emu Dreamings.
She uses traditional dot painting as well as more linear techniques to convey Awelye (traditional body painting). Her canvases are large, dynamic, complex and colourful. She pours her heart and spirit into these paintings which represent very personally her knowledge and connection to her land. She paints the leaves of various plants which are used for traditional medicine as well as being authorised to paint about Mountain Devil, Lizard and Emu Dreamings.
MICHAEL NELSON JAGAMARRA
Michael Nelson Jagamarra OA . (birth date unknown) Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs), Northern Territory. Started painting in 1983 and won the first Telstra NATSSIA Award in 1987. An 8m painting by Michael hangs in the Sydney Opera House and a mosaic he designed was installed in the Federal Parliament House. His work is bold and expressive often combining traditional elements and very expressive splashes of paint.
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WALTER DANIELS JAGAMARA
PADDY JAPALTJARI
Paddy Sims Japaltjarri (1916-2010), southwest of Yuendumu prior to contact with white settlement. Paddy was a leader of the Warlukurlangu artists whose flamboyant looser and more modernist Warlipiri style took the art word by storm in the 1980s. His work has appeared in the Pompidou Centre in Paris and is in collections throughout Australia and the world. He played a pivotal part in the development of central Australian indigenous art. He is a highly collectable artist.
PADDY BIRD NUNGALA
1940-2020, Harpers Sprung Northern Territory.
Paddy began painting in the 1980s. His artwork reflects Dreaming stories associated with Ilkawerne, Aramela and the country around Harpers Springs. He was born in the early 20th century in Djilpin, Southwest of Ramingining at the top of the Goyder border. After his parents died in the 1930s he lived with his uncle and continued the traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle away from the local Mission. He was initiated at Murrwangi.
Taught to paint in the traditional manner on bark by his second father Charlie Wagirr, he had his first show in 1983 in Melbourne where then Federal Minister Clyde Holding bought several of his bark works. He exhibited in Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Canberra and Adelaide. His paintings are usually on bark, shaped like a shield and use a white clay and ochres with a background of crosshatching (rarely and geometric shapes, sacred rocks and circular symbols representing waterholes.
He generally used minimalist brushstokes on bark with traditional body paint designs to show the important creation story of the Wagilag Sisters.
He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Victoria Gallery, Northern Territory Art Gallery, Holmes a Court Collection in West Australia and numerous private collections. He is mentioned in numerous books in indigenous art.
Paddy began painting in the 1980s. His artwork reflects Dreaming stories associated with Ilkawerne, Aramela and the country around Harpers Springs. He was born in the early 20th century in Djilpin, Southwest of Ramingining at the top of the Goyder border. After his parents died in the 1930s he lived with his uncle and continued the traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle away from the local Mission. He was initiated at Murrwangi.
Taught to paint in the traditional manner on bark by his second father Charlie Wagirr, he had his first show in 1983 in Melbourne where then Federal Minister Clyde Holding bought several of his bark works. He exhibited in Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Canberra and Adelaide. His paintings are usually on bark, shaped like a shield and use a white clay and ochres with a background of crosshatching (rarely and geometric shapes, sacred rocks and circular symbols representing waterholes.
He generally used minimalist brushstokes on bark with traditional body paint designs to show the important creation story of the Wagilag Sisters.
He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Victoria Gallery, Northern Territory Art Gallery, Holmes a Court Collection in West Australia and numerous private collections. He is mentioned in numerous books in indigenous art.
CLAYTON HUNTER
FRANCIE INGKATJI
Francie Ingkatji comes from Ernabella Community which is located in the far north-west of South Australia. Francie is an accomplished artist and is one of the highly respected dancers “The Seven Sisters”. In 2018 the group performed at the NAIDOC week celebrations as part of the major exhibition “Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters”.
HECTOR JANDANY
SHORTY ROBERTSON JANGALA
Shorty’s paintings are fresh, vigorous and new. His use of colour to paint and interpret his dreamings of Ngapa (Water), Watiyawarnu (Acacia), Yankirri (Emu) and Pamapardu (Flying Ant) is vital, yet upholding the Warlpiri tradition. He was an active member of the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu. His first solo exhibition at Alcaston Gallery in 2003 was met with great artistic acclaim. Since then he exhibited in Aboriginal Art Exhibitions in Australia and overseas.
REANNELLE JURRAH
PATRICIA KAMARA
Born 1960, Utopia approx 300km north east of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. She is a medicine woman in her country Anerara. Not surprisingly she paints leaves of plants and trees which provide medicine for local communities. Grass seeds, leaves, berries different types of root are part of her painting subject repertoire. Some of her work also includes women’s ceremonies and body paint designs.
ABIE LOY KEMARRE
Abie Loy Kemarre. b. 1972, Utopia. She is part of an artistic dynasty. Daughter of Margaret Loy and Ray Loy Pwerle, both noteworthy artists, she grew up in Mosquoto bore country. Her grandmother was the famous artist Kathleen Petyarre and she grew surrounded by artists like Emily Kngwarreye and the Petyarre sisters. She has been a finalist in the Telstra Award and her work is in many national collections as well as those overseas. She is a highly collectable artist.
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EILEEN PETRICK
JOSIE PETRICK KEMARRE
Born March 10 1955 at Santa Teresa mission 80km south west of Alice Springs. After marrying Robin Petyarre (brother of Gloria Petyarre) she moved to the famous Utopia region. They have 7 children. She mostly portrays the bush plum flowering’s using a distinctive delicate arrangement of very small dots in colours that represent the various stages of the plant’s growth.
SYLVIA KANYTJUPAI KEN
Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken: b. 14.3.1965, Amana, South Australia. Language group Pitjantjatjara. Daughter of Iluwabti and Brenton Ken, she now lives in Rocket bore community, Northern Territory and is a leading member of the prestigious Tjapangati artist community. A highly collectable artist, she paints the Dreaming of the Seven Sisters story. Seven Sisters are pursued through the country by Wati (man) Nyiru. Nyiru fell in love with the sisters but he was of the wrong skin group to marry. He still pursued them. As the sisters fled from him their steps created the land of the Mala country — the hills, the gullies, the creeks and the rock pools. They eventually created a deep water hole which went under a rock. They escaped Nyiru by diving in to the rock pool coming out the other side and flying into the sky. Wati Nyiru can be seen in the night sky chasing the Seven Sisters.
ANGELINE KNGALE
Angeline Kngale (also know as Angeline Pwerle and Ngale)
B. 1947. Utopia artist, originally of the Eastern Anmatyarre tribe.. Highly accredited she has exhibited around the world. She marriedLouie Pwerle but retains her skin name Kngale or Ngale. She has been a finalist in the Wynn’s and Restrain Indigenous awards, is represented in many State and private collections both in Australia and overseas and has had more than 10 solo exhibitions in Australia. Her work features intense dots that create a shimmering even moving effect around themes of bush food, flowers, the night owl (Arkker)Bush Plum Dreaming (Arnwekety) on her grandfathers country, Arlparra.
B. 1947. Utopia artist, originally of the Eastern Anmatyarre tribe.. Highly accredited she has exhibited around the world. She marriedLouie Pwerle but retains her skin name Kngale or Ngale. She has been a finalist in the Wynn’s and Restrain Indigenous awards, is represented in many State and private collections both in Australia and overseas and has had more than 10 solo exhibitions in Australia. Her work features intense dots that create a shimmering even moving effect around themes of bush food, flowers, the night owl (Arkker)Bush Plum Dreaming (Arnwekety) on her grandfathers country, Arlparra.
KUDDITJI KNGWARREYE
Kudditiji Kngwarreye or ‘Goob’. (1938 - 2017, Utopia.) brother of Emily Kngwarreye. Known as the “Mark Rothko of the Desert”, he used large planes of bright colour, similar to the great American abstractionist and has an international following. “His exciting use of colour combined with simple shapes tell the stories of one of his inherited ancestoral totems —the Emu Ancestors, their travels and teachings depicting various interpretations of the Emu Dreaming sites and ceremonies associated with Men’s Business”
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EMILY KNGWARREYE
Emily Kngwarre. (1910-1996, Utopia artist). Unquestionably the most famous Utopia artist, one of the most successful indigenous artists in our history and the first whose work sold for more than A$1m. She went through different styles in a relatively short career. Her earlier more traditional style using small dots was later replaced with her colourful “dump dump” style of larger dots made with shaving brushes. Towards her latter career she painted long thick lines of plain colour and then more expressive thinner lines that cross-crossed the canvas surface. Her most constant theme was about yams — a vital staple of traditional Central Australian indigenous diet.
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LILLY SANDOVER KNGWARREYE
Lily Sandover Kngwarreye. B Macdonald Station approx 1937. Died 2003 Utopia. An Alywarr woman, she started making batiks in 1977 and transferred to painting in 1989. Her closest friend was Emily Kngwarreye and they painted and exhibited together. Lily had a son to Emily’s husband with Emily’s consent. She is in private and state collections in Australia and overseas. Her subjects included the important Two Sisters Story as well as many other themes around landscape and bush food. She had a range of styles from fine dotting, detailed works showing the education of young people, to simple landscapes and body painting lines and complex depictions of special ceremonial places.
MARY LEWIS
JUDY MARTIN
Born near Mimili to father Pompey Everard (dec.) and Molly Pompey (dec.) . Her country was Puntiri near Sandy Bore 30km southwest of Mimili.
Most of her work relates to the area around Victory Well a land of magnificent boulders and sand gills. As a child she roamed this area in camelback searching for bush tucker. Her paintings include lines which represent the walking tracks around this area and the colours of course reflect the rich kaleidoscope of hues from this special place. She is represented in many collections.
Most of her work relates to the area around Victory Well a land of magnificent boulders and sand gills. As a child she roamed this area in camelback searching for bush tucker. Her paintings include lines which represent the walking tracks around this area and the colours of course reflect the rich kaleidoscope of hues from this special place. She is represented in many collections.
TAMMY MATTHEWS
BETTY CLUB (MBITJANA / PETYARRE)
JANET LONG NAKAMARRA
Janet has a deep understanding of language and country. She translates her Dreaming stories onto canvas without losing any of the vital and sacred cultural knowledge. She is able to tell stories of the mythology of Warlpiri people. Janet sees this as a way of teaching people about her culture. Her artworks provide us with a view of what the desert landscape may look like if we removed the top layer.
Janet’s paintings can be found in several well known art collections in Australia as well as at the Australian Embassy in New York, USA. She has had several solo exhibitions as well as been involved in multiple group exhibitions around Australia and overseas in Germany, China, Hong Kong and the USA.
Janet’s paintings can be found in several well known art collections in Australia as well as at the Australian Embassy in New York, USA. She has had several solo exhibitions as well as been involved in multiple group exhibitions around Australia and overseas in Germany, China, Hong Kong and the USA.
NELLIE MARKS NAKAMARRA
Nellie Marks Nakamarra: b. 1976, Western Desert region (Papunya) of Northern Territory . Sister Of Elizabeth Marks Nakamarra. Her artistic influences are Old Mick Namarrari, her stepfather Turkey Tolson, Uta Uta and other Western Desert artists. In earthy tones, she paints the Women’s Dreaming stories from the Western Desert, depicting the collection of bush medicines, water and bush tucker. She depicts Lightning Dreaming, women’s body paint designs, women’s ceremonies and women’s ‘Tingari’. One of her better known stories is Kalimpinpa, the large deep rock hole where men form a long chain and use the ‘coolamon’ to collect water and pass it up the chain.
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EUBENA NAMPITJIN
TURKEY TOLSEN NAKAMARRA
ROSELLA NAMOK
FELICITY ROBERTSON NAMPITJINPA
Felicity Robertson Nampitjinpa. Felicity is daughter of world famous artist Shorty Robertson Jangala. She comes from Yuendumu, 300km north west of Alice Springs. It is located on the Tunami Track in Gibson Desert and has one of the largest remote communities in the NT. It has a thriving arts community made up of the Warlpiri and Anmatyerr people. Like her father, Felicity paints the story of water Dreaming (Ngala Jukurrpa) called ‘Puyurru’ or ‘Soakage’, based in the large soakage sites and clay pans in her country. She uses intricate dot work in striking arrangements which makes her work both traditional and also very contemporary. She is a highly collectable artist and has been a finalist in the Wynne art prize and Mosman Art Prize.
LOLA BROWN NAMPITJINPA
From the remote Yuendumu community North-West of Alice Springs Northern Territory, Lola paints the creation stor associated with Pikillilyi Springs, a large sacred waterhole near Mt Doreen Station where the ancestral spirits of Yuendumu and the Rainbow Serpent reside. She’s uses a bright palette of colours along with fine dots to represent the waterholes and pathways between them.
MAUREEN HUDSON NAMPITJINPA
Born 13 August 1959 in the bush at Mt Barkley cattle station (now own by aboriginal people and called Yuelamu). Her work depicts traditional Warlpiri Dreaming stories— emu, fire and women’s ceremonies —passed down from her mother. She has been an artist in residence at Uluru
NYURAPAYIA NAMPITJINPA AKA MRS BENNETT
Born circa 1935 at Yumarra, North of Docker River, Western Australia, Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa grew up in Pitjanjatjara country around Punardi and later Tjukurla. As an adult she married the artist John John Bennett Tjapangati - “as silent and introspective as his wife was ebullient and expressive – like her paintings”, according to Vivian Johnson in her bible, “Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists”. She goes on to say that “Theirs was one of the strongest marriage partnerships at Kintore”, and it produced five sons and a daughter. Both were Ngangkaris, traditional healers, and she consulted to the Kintore Health Clinic when in the settlement.
While Mr Bennett (who died in 2002) began painting for Papunya Tula in 1986, Mrs B only became involved after she'd been instrumental in the development of the influential Haasts Bluff/Kintore Women's Painting Camp in 1994. This lead to her first group showing in Alice in 1996. Mrs Bennett painted her mother's Dreamings which are connected to sites at Yumarra, Wantjunga and Tjalilli rockholes near Tjukurla, and the laarge permanent waters at Pukara, Ngalkinginga and Munkara. She was deeply concerned with women's culture, and her designs often depicted women's ceremonies and rituals. The women's role in gathering bush tucker such as Kampurarrpa (desert raisin) and quandong were also celebrated.
The depictions of her sand dune country and surrounding rocky outcrops bear a relationship to the designs used for body painting during ceremonial dances, aka 'inma'. Mrs Bennett favoured the use of strong contrasts using blacks and pale yellows/creams set in relief often against a red ground. Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa was named among the top 50 of Australia's Most Collectable Artists in March 2001 issue of Australian Art Collector. According to Vivien Johnson, this lead to her beginning to work for a number of private dealers in Alice Springs in order to achieve “Toyota for Mrs Bennett, Number One, to visit her Country”. Notable amongst these was Chris Simons at Yanda – to whom questions about Mrs B's death were referred by Papunya Tula Artists. Having been exhibited widely across Australia, Singapore and Germany, Mrs Bennett's work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, The Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank and in corporate and private collections internationally. "
While Mr Bennett (who died in 2002) began painting for Papunya Tula in 1986, Mrs B only became involved after she'd been instrumental in the development of the influential Haasts Bluff/Kintore Women's Painting Camp in 1994. This lead to her first group showing in Alice in 1996. Mrs Bennett painted her mother's Dreamings which are connected to sites at Yumarra, Wantjunga and Tjalilli rockholes near Tjukurla, and the laarge permanent waters at Pukara, Ngalkinginga and Munkara. She was deeply concerned with women's culture, and her designs often depicted women's ceremonies and rituals. The women's role in gathering bush tucker such as Kampurarrpa (desert raisin) and quandong were also celebrated.
The depictions of her sand dune country and surrounding rocky outcrops bear a relationship to the designs used for body painting during ceremonial dances, aka 'inma'. Mrs Bennett favoured the use of strong contrasts using blacks and pale yellows/creams set in relief often against a red ground. Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa was named among the top 50 of Australia's Most Collectable Artists in March 2001 issue of Australian Art Collector. According to Vivien Johnson, this lead to her beginning to work for a number of private dealers in Alice Springs in order to achieve “Toyota for Mrs Bennett, Number One, to visit her Country”. Notable amongst these was Chris Simons at Yanda – to whom questions about Mrs B's death were referred by Papunya Tula Artists. Having been exhibited widely across Australia, Singapore and Germany, Mrs Bennett's work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, The Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank and in corporate and private collections internationally. "
ROSY CORBY NAMPITJINPA
TJAWINA PORTER NAMPITJINPA
Tjawina Porter Nampitjinpa. No birth date. Tjawina grew up in thenvushnat Yulara later moving to Papunya.. although initially a basket weaver, she paints Dreaming stories of important sacred sites at Yumaram Punkilpirri and Tjalili. Her modern approach to painting has earned her many admirers and she is featured in many private and public collections.
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DEBRA MCDONALD NANGALA
Debra McDonald Nangala. b. 1963], Papunya. Granddaughter of artist Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi. Lives in Adelaide. She tells traditional stories from her grandfather’ s country (Lake McDonald) such as the Goanna Love Story and My Country. These are given dramatic effect by using strong traditional colours (often red black and white) and very detailed dot work. Much of her work uses imagery of the circular piles of sand surrounding goanna holes.
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ESTHER BRUNO NANGALA
Bio: born 1981, Alice Springs Northern Territory. She is a Luritja/Pintupi woman from the Kintore community. Her grandmother was the legendary Nastassja Nungurrayi. She is fluent in Pintupi and her work has recently taken on a very bold distinctive and almost figurative quality. This powerful confident style sets her apart from most other indigenous artists. Her subjects include the important women’s place of Marrapinti. She generally builds up the texture of her paint on the canvas to develop an almost iconographic image.
JULIE ROBERTSON NANGALA
One of 5 talented daughters of the renowned Dorothy Napangardi who tragically died in 2013. She comes from the Yuendumu community 300km north west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Like her famous mother and sister Sabrina Robertson, much of Julie’s inspiration is drawn from the stories of the Mina Mina Coubtry and the Tanami Desert. Her main subjects are associated with the Mina Mina ‘Milky Way’
SABRINA ROBERTSON NANGALA
Sabrina Robertson Nangala is a talented artist from the remote Aboriginal community "Yuendumu" in the Tanami Desert region of Central Australia (293kms northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory). Sabrina is the daughter of highly acclaimed artist, the late Dorothy Napangardi. Dorothy tragically died in a car accident near Alice Springs while on a hunting trip, on 1st June 2013. Alongside her sister Julie Robertson Nangala, the sisters are fast becoming recognised as being at the forefront of the new generation of exciting contemporary Indigenous Australian artists. The sisters have developed their own unique style of symmetrically organic composition, with an expertly mixed vivid colour pallet. Like their mother Dorothy, the inspiration for both of the sisters artworks are related to significant ceremonial sites in their ancestral land "Mina Mina' in the Tanami Desert.
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YINARUPA NANGALA
Born approx 1960 in the Western Desert . Daughter of highly regarded artist Anatjari Tjampitjinpa her work has been influenced by the Pupunys Tula art collective. She paints the Ngamurru area where women meet and conduct important ceremonies. The area is significant for its abundance of acacia seed which is ground to make a sort of damper or ‘latja’ which is used in ceremonies. Tge shapes that occur in her paintings reflect topographical features such as hills waterholes etc. she has been voted one of the top 50 collectible indigenous artists. She won the General Art Prize at the 2009 ATSI Art Awards.
BIDDY NAPALJARRI WHITE
GRACIE WARD NAPALTJARRI
Born in 1973 she is from the famous indigenous art community of Papunya, 240km north west of Alice Springs Northern Territory. Her father was the highly respected artist George Ward Thungurrayi and mother was Nyungawarra Ward Napurruka. She learnt the Dreaming stories from her parents and initially conveyed those in a more traditional style. However she has branched out into a much more contemporary style. Her work is often compared to contour lines in a complex map of her country.
SUSIE BOOTJA BOOTJA NAPALTJARRI
Susie Bootja Bootja was represented by Warlayirti artists at Balgo, where she was living and working in the 1990s. She was one of the strongest painters at Balgo. The work of Balgo artists such as Susie Bootja Bootja, and her fellow artists including Sunfly Tjampitjin and Wimmitji Tjapangarti, are characterised by an expressive style, involving "linked dotting and blurred forms and edges".
Works by Susie Bootja Bootja are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Flinders University Art Museum Collection. She is also represented in major private collections, such as Nangara (also known as the Ebes Collection), the Holmes à Court Collection and the Morven Estate. Works by both Susie Bootja Bootja and her husband were included in a 1991 exhibition 'Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu' in Paris, and in 'Daughters of the Dreaming' at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in 1997. Her paintings feature in Christine Watson's 2003 book, Piercing the Ground: Balgo Women's Image Making and Relationship to Country.
Works by Susie Bootja Bootja are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Flinders University Art Museum Collection. She is also represented in major private collections, such as Nangara (also known as the Ebes Collection), the Holmes à Court Collection and the Morven Estate. Works by both Susie Bootja Bootja and her husband were included in a 1991 exhibition 'Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu' in Paris, and in 'Daughters of the Dreaming' at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in 1997. Her paintings feature in Christine Watson's 2003 book, Piercing the Ground: Balgo Women's Image Making and Relationship to Country.
NANGALA NAPURULLA
NINGURA NAPURULLA
JANICE NIXON YUWSLI
HAYLEY COULTHARD PANANGKA
Hayley Panangka Coulthard was both in Hermannsburg, south of Alice Springs. She was the daughter of potter Anita Ratara. Hayley joined Hermannsburg Potters in 2009 and has participated in numerous joint exhibitions and has exhibited in Shanghai China. She depicts her traditional country Palm Valley and frequently references Willy Wagtail Dreaming.
MIKINTI NAPANANGKA
Makinti Napanangka (c. 1930 – 9 January 2011) was a Pintupi-speaking artist from Australia's Western Desert region.
Makinti Napanangka began painting Contemporary Indigenous Australian art at Kintore in the mid-1990s. Interest in her work developed quickly, and she is now represented in all significant Australian public art galleries, including the National Gallery of Australia. A finalist in the 2003 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award, Makinti won the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2008. Her work was shown in the major indigenous art exhibition Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Napanangka’s paintings often represent the handspun, hair-string skirts worn by women during ceremonies. The celebratory nature of these performances is expressed in the play of colour and form across the painting’s surface.
She was a member of the Papunya Tula Artists Cooperative, but her work has been described as more gestural and spontaneous than that of her fellow Papunya Tula artists.
Makinti Napanangka began painting Contemporary Indigenous Australian art at Kintore in the mid-1990s. Interest in her work developed quickly, and she is now represented in all significant Australian public art galleries, including the National Gallery of Australia. A finalist in the 2003 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award, Makinti won the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2008. Her work was shown in the major indigenous art exhibition Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Napanangka’s paintings often represent the handspun, hair-string skirts worn by women during ceremonies. The celebratory nature of these performances is expressed in the play of colour and form across the painting’s surface.
She was a member of the Papunya Tula Artists Cooperative, but her work has been described as more gestural and spontaneous than that of her fellow Papunya Tula artists.
SONIA DANIELS NAPANANGKA
Sonia Daniels Napanangka. b. 1972, Nyirripi region, 400km west of Alice Springs. She paints the stories handed down to her by her family. She employs both modernist techniques as well as more traditional styles to tell these stories.
GABRIELLA POSSUM NUNGURRAI
Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi. b. 1967 Yuelama community Northern Territory. . She is the elder daughter of the famous Clifford Possum Tjapalatjarri (1932-2003) who mentored her at an early age. She paints the Dreamings of her grandmother such as the Seven Sisters (the story of the Milky Way), Goanna, Bush Tucker, serpent story of her Anmatyerre country. She is represented in Galleries across Australia and overseas.
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JEANNIE NUNGURRAYI EGAN
Jeannie Egan Nungurrayi was born in approximately 1948 at Yuendumu, 3 hours out of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Jeannie Egan is a Warlpiri woman whose Dreamings include Wanakiji (Bush Plum), Miinypa (Native Fuchsia), Yarumayi (White Ochre) and Parlukurlangu (Gaints).
In 1987, as a young woman Jeannie began painting for Warlukurlangu Artist in Yuendumu. Her initial style was distinctive which shared a strong narrative with boldly outlined basic earth colours. Remarkably, one month after her first exhibition with Warlukurlangu Artists in an exhibition in Melbourne she was awarded first prize in the prestigious National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and the Rothman’s Foundation Award for best artwork in introduced media. From here she began participating exhibitions with Warlukurlangu Artists regularly with exhibitions throughout Australia.
In 1988 and 1989 her painting titled “Goanna Dreaming” was included in two separate exhibitions by the National Gallery of Victoria.
Some of her work uses traditional iconography to recount the Dreamtime story of the Jangala men, who were rain makers. The men would sing songs to unleash giant storms. Jeannie uses symbols to illustrate Ngawarra (flood waters) and Muju (water soakages). Her use of bold, thick lines in an array of contrasting pastels is mesmerisingJeannie Egan Nungurrayi was born in approximately 1948 at Yuendumu, 3 hours out of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Jeannie Egan is a Warlpiri woman whose Dreamings include Wanakiji (Bush Plum), Miinypa (Native Fuchsia), Yarumayi (White Ochre) and Parlukurlangu (Gaints).
In 1987, as a young woman Jeannie began painting for Warlukurlangu Artist in Yuendumu. Her initial style was distinctive which shared a strong narrative with boldly outlined basic earth colours. Remarkably, one month after her first exhibition with Warlukurlangu Artists in an exhibition in Melbourne she was awarded first prize in the prestigious National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and the Rothman’s Foundation Award for best artwork in introduced media. From here she began participating exhibitions with Warlukurlangu Artists regularly with exhibitions throughout Australia.
In 1988 and 1989 her painting titled “Goanna Dreaming” was included in two separate exhibitions by the National Gallery of Victoria.
Central Art has two of her artworks displayed on our website which were painted in 2007. The first is titled “Rain Dreaming” and uses traditional iconography to recount the Dreamtime story of the Jangala men, who were rain makers. The men would sing songs to unleash giant storms. Jeannie uses symbols to illustrate Ngawarra (flood waters) and Muju (water soakages) throughout the painting. Her use of bold, thick lines in an array of contrasting pastels is mesmerising.
In 1987, as a young woman Jeannie began painting for Warlukurlangu Artist in Yuendumu. Her initial style was distinctive which shared a strong narrative with boldly outlined basic earth colours. Remarkably, one month after her first exhibition with Warlukurlangu Artists in an exhibition in Melbourne she was awarded first prize in the prestigious National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and the Rothman’s Foundation Award for best artwork in introduced media. From here she began participating exhibitions with Warlukurlangu Artists regularly with exhibitions throughout Australia.
In 1988 and 1989 her painting titled “Goanna Dreaming” was included in two separate exhibitions by the National Gallery of Victoria.
Some of her work uses traditional iconography to recount the Dreamtime story of the Jangala men, who were rain makers. The men would sing songs to unleash giant storms. Jeannie uses symbols to illustrate Ngawarra (flood waters) and Muju (water soakages). Her use of bold, thick lines in an array of contrasting pastels is mesmerisingJeannie Egan Nungurrayi was born in approximately 1948 at Yuendumu, 3 hours out of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Jeannie Egan is a Warlpiri woman whose Dreamings include Wanakiji (Bush Plum), Miinypa (Native Fuchsia), Yarumayi (White Ochre) and Parlukurlangu (Gaints).
In 1987, as a young woman Jeannie began painting for Warlukurlangu Artist in Yuendumu. Her initial style was distinctive which shared a strong narrative with boldly outlined basic earth colours. Remarkably, one month after her first exhibition with Warlukurlangu Artists in an exhibition in Melbourne she was awarded first prize in the prestigious National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and the Rothman’s Foundation Award for best artwork in introduced media. From here she began participating exhibitions with Warlukurlangu Artists regularly with exhibitions throughout Australia.
In 1988 and 1989 her painting titled “Goanna Dreaming” was included in two separate exhibitions by the National Gallery of Victoria.
Central Art has two of her artworks displayed on our website which were painted in 2007. The first is titled “Rain Dreaming” and uses traditional iconography to recount the Dreamtime story of the Jangala men, who were rain makers. The men would sing songs to unleash giant storms. Jeannie uses symbols to illustrate Ngawarra (flood waters) and Muju (water soakages) throughout the painting. Her use of bold, thick lines in an array of contrasting pastels is mesmerising.
MARLENE YOUNG NUNGURRAYI
NAATA NUNGURRAYI
DELORES FARBER (NAPALTJARRI)
GLENYS GIBSON NAPALTJARRI
JEAN HUDSON NAPALTJARRI
Jean Hudson Nampijinpa was born in the remote community of Yuelamu in 1956. Yuelamu Community is approximately 3 hours from Alice Springs She is the sister of well known artist Maureen Hudson Nampitjinpa. Jean grew up at her families traditional lands learning the important laws and culture of her people. Jean is a Warlpiri woman however she also speaks Anmatyerre, another Aboriginal language from Central Australia. Her country is Kerrinyerra or Mount Wedge which is in the Yuelamu/Yuendumu region.
She inherited several Dreamings from her family. From her father she inherited Warlu or fire Dreaming, from her grandfather she inherited Ngapa or Water Dreaming and from her mother she inherited Kanmarra or Bush Onion Dreaming. Her Dreamings originate from Warlukurlungu, her father and grandfather’s descendants which involve many Dreamings such as Emu, Fire, Flying Ant, Water, Possum and Women’s ceremonies.
Jean began painting in 1979 and initially her paintings used traditional iconography however over time they took on a more impressionistic look. Demand for her work increased and over the years she has participated in several group and solo exhibitions in Australia as well as The Netherlands, Zurich and the USA. Jean comes from a long line of Aboriginal artists who promote and share their culture through their Dreamings and artworks. Her artworks are also held in several collections.
Many of her paintings depict the salt lakes from an aerial perspective around Mount Wedge using subtle dotting that varies in thickness.
She inherited several Dreamings from her family. From her father she inherited Warlu or fire Dreaming, from her grandfather she inherited Ngapa or Water Dreaming and from her mother she inherited Kanmarra or Bush Onion Dreaming. Her Dreamings originate from Warlukurlungu, her father and grandfather’s descendants which involve many Dreamings such as Emu, Fire, Flying Ant, Water, Possum and Women’s ceremonies.
Jean began painting in 1979 and initially her paintings used traditional iconography however over time they took on a more impressionistic look. Demand for her work increased and over the years she has participated in several group and solo exhibitions in Australia as well as The Netherlands, Zurich and the USA. Jean comes from a long line of Aboriginal artists who promote and share their culture through their Dreamings and artworks. Her artworks are also held in several collections.
Many of her paintings depict the salt lakes from an aerial perspective around Mount Wedge using subtle dotting that varies in thickness.
MAISIE CAMPBELL NAPALTJARRI
Maisie Campbell Napaltjarri. No birth date. She is from the Luritja people, Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory. Her formative years were at Papunya art community. She combines a unique eye for colour with a rapid dot painting style and traditional motifs. She paints women’s ceremonies as a way of recording and preserving those sacred places and beliefs. She is establishing a strong following among collectors.
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MAVIS JUGADAI NAPALTJARRI
Mavis Jugadai Napaltjarri. c.1967, Desert west of Kintore (Papunya). She is from a very artistic family; Mother is internationally recognised Narputa Nangala, father is Timmy Tjungurrayi Jugadai and sister is Molly Napaltjarri Jugadai. She paints in traditional colours with a bold distinctive style and her themes are principally her country, bush tucker and women’s secret ceremony. She is in collections around the world.
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MEREDITH DANIELS NAPALTJARRI
NGOIA POLLARD NAPALTJARRI
Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri; b. !948, Haasts Bluff. Ngoia is a highly credentialed Papunya artist, winner of the Telstra Prize in 2006. She is a Walpiri speaking Western Desert artist. Her work relates to Dreamings or stories for which she and her people have custodial right. Many of her paintings relate to the area of Yamunturrngu or Mt Liebig, to the west of Haasts Bluff, her father’s country. Her work often uses oval shapes representing lakes or swamps and her palette is generall black and white with red. The dotted shapes represent the cracked earth as the water of the lake bed dries up. She is represented in collections through Australia and overseas. She is a highly collectable artist.
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FREDA TJEMMA NAPANANGKA, MICK GILL TJAKAMARRA, GERALDINE NOWEE NAPALTJARRI.
Geraldine Nowee Napaltjarr b.1977. (Nowee is one of a group of 3 Warlayirti Great Sandy Desert artists whose work is grouped together. Others are Freda Tjemma Napanangka and Pukurny Mick Gill Tjakamarra)
SUSAN GIBSON NAPALTJARRI
Born approx 1960 in the Kintore area 500km west of Alice Springs. She is of the Pintupi people and was taught to paint by her famous Motger Ningura Napurrula. She uses strong contrasting colours and heavy dot work to interpret her main themes — Water Dreaming, Womens Business and Womens Ceremony. Her paintings have a topographical quality as though the artist is floating above the landscape.
KATURA CONWAY NAPANANGKA
BARBARA REID NAPANGARDI
Barbara Reid Napangardi. b.1964, Tjukurla, Gibson Desert, Western Australia. She is the daughter of famous artist Ningurra Napurrula. Her paintings reflect Women’s Ceremonies and tell the stories of how the environment was created. Her paintings depict the ‘puli’ or rock formations. Her homeland is largely composed of sandhills and rock pools where water collects and bush tucker grows.
DOROTHY NAPANGARDI
GLADIS TASMAN NAPANGARDI
Also known as Kungarriya, Gladys Napangardi Tasman was born circa 1930 and is from Lajamanu, Northern Territory. Gladys is a Warlpiri artist who first began to paint on canvas in 1986 when this medium was introduced by European influence in the community. The stories and traditional painting style have remained the same as were painted on artefacts and stones, in ceremony times on the bodies and on the ground.
Her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. She is also renowned for her dancing.
Her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. She is also renowned for her dancing.
JOYLEEN REID NAPANGARDI
Born 1967 Hassts Bluff approx 225km from Alice Springs. She is part of the Tjukurla community in Western Australia. Her mother is the famous Walangkura Napurrula and her father is Kalara Thapangati. She generally depicts an aerial view of her country and Women’s Business. She uses a range of ochres typical of her country as well as vivid sky blues and oranges.
LILLY KELLY NAPANGARDI
Lilly Kelly Napangardi. b. 1948, Haasts Bluff, West if Alice Springs. Started painting in the 1970s. She is an elder of the Watiyawanu community and Dreamtime custodian. She has won the 1986 Northern Territory Art Award. She was named as one of the 50 most collectable artists by Australian Art Collector magazine. She depicts the shifting grains of sands the hills (Tali) in her country with intricate white dots on black backgrounds. She is represented in major collections in Australia and overseas.
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SHARON PORTER NAPANGARDI
ELSIE GRANITES NAPANANGKA
Elsie Granites Napanangka. b. 1965 . She comes from Yuendumu, 300km north west of Alice Springs. It is located on the Tunami Track in Gibson Desert. It’s one of the largest remote communities in the NT and has a thriving arts community. It is made up of the Warlpiri and Anmatyerr people. Elsie’s paintings are based on the Dreaming of her custodial land ‘Mina Mina’. . Her styles include the minimalist black and white style similar to the late Dorothy Napangardi as well as using more vivid colours. Elsie also paints the sacred ‘Seven Sisters Dreaming Story’ . Seven Sisters are pursued through the country by Wati (man) Nyiru. Nyiru fell in love with the sisters but he was of the wrong skin group to marry. He still pursued them. As the sisters fled from him their steps created the land of the Mala country — the hills, the gullies, the creeks and the rock pools. They eventually created a deep water hole which went under a rock. They escaped Nyiru by diving in to the rock pool coming out the other side and flying into the sky. Wati Nyiru can be seen in the night sky chasing the Seven Sisters.
LOUISE NUMINA NAPANANGKA
Louise Numina Napanangka. b. 1976. Utopia region. One of 6 well known desert Kaytetye artists— the Numina Sisters. Niece of Gloria and Kathleen Petyarre. Louise studied at Yirara College in Alice Springs then returned to Stirling station where she began painting in 1981. The sisters return regularly to the country of their mother, Barbara Price Mtjimbana. Their subjects include bush medicine leaves Dreaming. Many women of the Petyarre, Mambitji and Numina families hold custody of the story of medicine leaves, bush tucker, soakage, women’s ceremony — in common with other skin groups across the plains and arid lands of central Australia. Knowing carrying and reinforcing these stories gave respect for Country and ancestors.
LORNA BROWN NAPANANGKA
NANCY GIBSON NAPANANGKA
Nancy Napanangka Gibson b. Unknown. Born at Lake Mackay 500kn west of Alice Springs, she now lives at Yuendumu 300km from Alice Springs. Nancy’s family were the last people to come from bush to Yuendumu in the 1950s. She started painting many years ago and paints Mina Mina Jukurrpa Dreamings in a blend of traditional and modern styles as well as Wurrpadi Jukurrpa (dogwood tree Dreaming) related to her Mina Mina. In 2018 she was still painting and hunting for goanna on weekends.
WALANGKURA NAPANANGKA
Walangkura Napanangka. b.1946 at the remote Tjitururrnga west of Kintore. Her homeland is west of Lake Karekurutunjinya (Lake McDonald). She is one of the generation of artists to emerge from the arid bush of central Australia to produce some of the most beautiful art in Australia today. She was part of the historic women’s collaborate art project of 1994. It was a time of specifically female singing ceremony away from outsiders and the men. The huge colourful paintings which resulted were among the most dramatic paintings created in Australia’s history. The movement resulted in the establishment of the Papunya arts group and Walangura is one of their most senior artists. The women’s paintings tend to be more evocative and vibrant than the more geometric work of the men. Her early work consist of small markings love for her favourite colour - yellow ochre/orange. “They are rich with a sense of rhythm and unimpeded movement; theynshow Sandhills, rockholes, journeys and gatherings of ancestral women, the flow of colours In subtle shifts of light....Walangkura trans,its the power of the desert, soaked up during her childhood years and imbues her works with the mystery of a a]sacred perception.” (Kate Owen Gallery) she is a highly collectable artist.
TOPSY PETERSON NAPANGARDI
Topsy Peterson Napangardi is from Papunya, Northern Territory. Topsy grew up with her two sisters, Denise Reid Napangardi and renowned artist Lily Kelly Napangardi.
Topsy met her husband Leo in Papunya in 1968 and 2 years later welcomed their first child Carroll in 1970, followed by another girl Christine Nungala Peterson in 1974. The following year Topsy gave birth to her son Neil.
Growing up Topsy’s Mother Easia Naparulla taught her of their stories, in particular ‘spring flowers dreaming’. It was only after the death of her mother in 1983 that her older sister Lily Kelly Napangardi shared with Topsy more family stories that had been passed down to her, including ‘Sand Hills’. Topsy continues to share these family dreamings with her children to keep their culture alive.
Topsy met her husband Leo in Papunya in 1968 and 2 years later welcomed their first child Carroll in 1970, followed by another girl Christine Nungala Peterson in 1974. The following year Topsy gave birth to her son Neil.
Growing up Topsy’s Mother Easia Naparulla taught her of their stories, in particular ‘spring flowers dreaming’. It was only after the death of her mother in 1983 that her older sister Lily Kelly Napangardi shared with Topsy more family stories that had been passed down to her, including ‘Sand Hills’. Topsy continues to share these family dreamings with her children to keep their culture alive.
MITJILI NAPURRULA
Mitjili Napurrula. b. 1945, Papunya (Haasts Bluff) 200km west of Alice Springs. Her half brother Turkey Tolson and husband Long Tom Tjapanangka are also artists. She started painting in the early 1990s, initially following the Papunya school style, but she developed her own unique modernistic style of bold geometric patterns mostlymof the Watiyawanu Tjuta, the trees that provide wood for the creation of spears which is an important part of men’s ceremonial practice. She was taught these patterns by her mother who would draw in the sand. Her work is in many public collections in Australia and she has exhibited widely. Mitjili has been a finalist in the Telstra prize and won the Central Australia Art Award in 1999. She is a highly collectable artist.
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NINGURU NAPURRULA
Born around 1938 at Watulka, south of the modern Kiwirrkura community, Ningura Napurrula was married to the late Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi with whom she moved to Papunya in the early days of the settlement. In 1996 she was part of a group of elderly women from Kintore and Kiwirrkura who began painting for Papunya Tula Artists in their own right.
Ningura is one of the most important and well-represented Australian indigenous artists. Her work is in an extraordinary range of international, national, State and private collections such as Musée du quai Branly, Paris, The Palace of Japan Tokyo, HOOD Museum of Art Hanover, National Museum of Women Arts Washington, the National Gallery of Australia, every StTe and Territory Gallery in Australia, the collections of Kerry Stokes and Homes a Court and Australian Institute Aboriginal Collection.
Characteristic of Ningara's work is a strong dynamism and rich linear design-compositions created with heavy layers of acrylic paint.Her bold, intricate linework and dense monochrome infilling is reminiscent of Tjungurrayi’s earliest works.Napurrula and Tjungurrayi’s sons, Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri (Mawitji) and Adam Gibbs Tjapaltjarri, now carry on their mother’s and father’s work in their own paintings.
Her work is keenly sought after by international buyers .
Ningura is one of the most important and well-represented Australian indigenous artists. Her work is in an extraordinary range of international, national, State and private collections such as Musée du quai Branly, Paris, The Palace of Japan Tokyo, HOOD Museum of Art Hanover, National Museum of Women Arts Washington, the National Gallery of Australia, every StTe and Territory Gallery in Australia, the collections of Kerry Stokes and Homes a Court and Australian Institute Aboriginal Collection.
Characteristic of Ningara's work is a strong dynamism and rich linear design-compositions created with heavy layers of acrylic paint.Her bold, intricate linework and dense monochrome infilling is reminiscent of Tjungurrayi’s earliest works.Napurrula and Tjungurrayi’s sons, Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri (Mawitji) and Adam Gibbs Tjapaltjarri, now carry on their mother’s and father’s work in their own paintings.
Her work is keenly sought after by international buyers .
SYLVARIA JONES (NAPURRULA WALKER)
Sylvaria Jones (Napurrula Walker. Born in Alice Springs, Sylvaria is the granddaughter of Topsy Pwerle Jones and niece of Jocelyn Petyarre Jones, both well established Utopian artists. She grew up in Utopia watching and learning from her famous relatives. She paints in the Warlukurlangu arts centre in Yuendumu with her central focus in painting her grandmother’s Jukurrpa (Red Mallee Flower Dreaming) passed down for thousands of years. Her style is reminiscent of her grandmother’s festhery painting technique.
LORNA WARD NAPANANGKA
Lorna Ward Napanangka was born at Papunya in 1961. Lorna's father is Timmy Payungka Tjapangati, one of the first generation Papunya Tula artists. Lorna herself started painting in 1996.
It was in 1999 that Lorna's standing started to rise. That followed her participation in the collaborative artwork "Kiwirrkurra Women's Painting" for the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. Lorna's style is extremely varied.
It is rare for any one composition to resemble another. She effortlessly moves from style to style, medium to medium and colour to colour.
This versatility and collectability has been recognised by collectors worldwide. Lorna has exhibited in Australia and overseas and was a finalist in the 2002 NATSIAA.
It was in 1999 that Lorna's standing started to rise. That followed her participation in the collaborative artwork "Kiwirrkurra Women's Painting" for the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. Lorna's style is extremely varied.
It is rare for any one composition to resemble another. She effortlessly moves from style to style, medium to medium and colour to colour.
This versatility and collectability has been recognised by collectors worldwide. Lorna has exhibited in Australia and overseas and was a finalist in the 2002 NATSIAA.
MARGARET LEWIS NAPANANGKA
LORNA FENCER NAPURRUKA
JORNA NEWBERRY
Jorna Newberry. b. 1959, Angus Downs, Northern Territory. She is a Pitjantjatjara woman, niece of artist Tommy Watson Yannima. She is most famous for her bold ‘Fire Dreaming’ works depicting Creation and the earth’s elements, particularly fire and wind which help form her Country. The stories relate to the country of Irrunytju in the Western Desert. Her very detailed, highly colourful, dramatic and quite distinctive works have made her a highly collectable artist.
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POLLY NGALA
Polly Ngala. (Birthdate unknown) Utopia. She is one of the prestigious ‘elder artists’ of Central Australia. Sister to Kathleen Ngala and Angeline Pwerle Ngale. She is a principal custodian of the Bush Plum (“Arnwetky”) Dreaming. Her works are coloured layers of expressive dots reflecting the Anwetky story. She is the Monet of indigenous art and is a highly collectable artist.
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Some interesting info :
The conkerberry (or conkleberry) known as Anwekety or bush plum to Polly, is a sweet black berry that is favoured by desert aboriginals. They only grow on the plant (Carissa lanceolata) for a few weeks of the year, however Polly's people collect plenty of them and store them dry, soaking them in water again before being consumed. The plant of the conkerberry is a tangled, spiny shrub that can grow up to 2m high. After rain fragrant white flowers bloom. This plant also bares medicinal properties. The orange inner bark from the roots can be soaked in water and the resultant solutions can be used as a medicinal wash. This is particularly favoured for skin and eye conditions. The thorns on the shrub can be used to cure warts.
Polly paints the conkerberry (dot work). In Anmatyerre the conkerberry is called Anwekety. This fruit looks very similar to a plum and is often referred to in English by Polly as a 'bush plum'. In the Dreamtime, winds blew from all directions, carrying the Anwekety seed over Polly's ancestors' land. The first Anwekety of the Dreamings then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Many winds blew the seeds all over the Dreaming lands.
The conkerberry (or conkleberry) known as Anwekety or bush plum to Polly, is a sweet black berry that is favoured by desert aboriginals. They only grow on the plant (Carissa lanceolata) for a few weeks of the year, however Polly's people collect plenty of them and store them dry, soaking them in water again before being consumed. The plant of the conkerberry is a tangled, spiny shrub that can grow up to 2m high. After rain fragrant white flowers bloom. This plant also bares medicinal properties. The orange inner bark from the roots can be soaked in water and the resultant solutions can be used as a medicinal wash. This is particularly favoured for skin and eye conditions. The thorns on the shrub can be used to cure warts.
Polly paints the conkerberry (dot work). In Anmatyerre the conkerberry is called Anwekety. This fruit looks very similar to a plum and is often referred to in English by Polly as a 'bush plum'. In the Dreamtime, winds blew from all directions, carrying the Anwekety seed over Polly's ancestors' land. The first Anwekety of the Dreamings then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Many winds blew the seeds all over the Dreaming lands.
SONYA PETRICK NGWARRAYE
EILEEN BIRD (NUNGALA)
Eileen Bird Nangari. b 1956, an Eastern Arrente woman who grew up at Harts Range Station, North East of Alice Springs. She married Paddy Bird, son of acclaimed Utopian artist Ada Bird Petyarre. Both Eileen and Paddy are artists as are most of their 11 children. Her work is mostly a depiction of women’s body painting design or ‘Awelye’. These body paint designs also reflect dance tracks left in the sand.
ANDREA MARTIN NUNGARRAYI
Andrea Martin Nungarrayi. b. 1965, Yuendumu, a remote indigenous community 290 km north west of Alice Springs. Daughter of artist Samson Japaljarri Martin, one of the founding members of the Warlulurlangu Artists and Uni Nampijinpa Martin, another renowned artist. Andrea uses iconographic motifs to paint her father’s Jukurrpa stories passed down through generations, depicting the land, its features, fauna and flora.
LYNETTE CORBY NUNGARRAYI
CLARICE MORGAN NUNGURRAYI
QUEENIE STEWART NUNGURRAYI
Queenie Nungarrayi Stewart was born in 1972 at Yuendumu in central Australia.
Queenie is the only daughter of Paddy Stewart Japaljarri, Chairman of Warlukurlangu Art Centre and one of the main artists who participated in painting significant Dreamings on the Yuendumu School Doors, which later became a well known collection.
Queenie commenced painting with the Warlukurlangu Art Centre in 1997. With her father's guidance, together they paint collaborative work, depicting traditional Dreaming stories. Queenie and her father Paddy are custodians of their country, Yuendumu in Central Australia.In 2002 Queenie travelled to Sydney with the Warlukurlangu Artists to represent her paintings in a Group Exhibition.
Queenie depicts in her work traditional iconography which represents stories from the Dreamtime, particular sites and other elements associated with her country.
Queenie is the only daughter of Paddy Stewart Japaljarri, Chairman of Warlukurlangu Art Centre and one of the main artists who participated in painting significant Dreamings on the Yuendumu School Doors, which later became a well known collection.
Queenie commenced painting with the Warlukurlangu Art Centre in 1997. With her father's guidance, together they paint collaborative work, depicting traditional Dreaming stories. Queenie and her father Paddy are custodians of their country, Yuendumu in Central Australia.In 2002 Queenie travelled to Sydney with the Warlukurlangu Artists to represent her paintings in a Group Exhibition.
Queenie depicts in her work traditional iconography which represents stories from the Dreamtime, particular sites and other elements associated with her country.
ROXANNE OLIVER
KATHLEEN PADOON
PATI
MAGDELINE PAYNE
STEPHEN BERGER (PENGARTE)
Stephen Berger Pengarte. b.1963, Central Australia. Arrente language group. He uses earthy colours and paints in strong geometric patterns reflecting the country of his father’s people, including rolling Sandhills and the patterns made by the wind in the sand.
ADA BIRD PETYARRE
Ada began with the Utopia Women’s Batik Group in the late 1970’s where her work was exhibited extensively and featured on the cover of the Utopia – A Picture Story publication by A. Brody (Heytesbury Holdings, Perth, 1990). In 1988 Ada subsequently began painting with acrylics during CAAMA’s Summer Project and continued in this medium until suffering a stroke in 2004.
Ada’s work is represented in many major and private collections all over the world. She is known for her bright, bold linear patterns often incorporating breasts, indicating women’s ceremonial body paint designs associated with the Arnkerrthe (Mountain Devil Lizard) Dreaming for Atnangkere and Ahalkere Country. This Dreaming story was the most significant for Ada along with her sisters, Kathleen, Gloria, Myrtle, Violet, Nancy and Jean Petyarre (also known as the Seven Petyarre Sisters).
Ada’s work is represented in many major and private collections all over the world. She is known for her bright, bold linear patterns often incorporating breasts, indicating women’s ceremonial body paint designs associated with the Arnkerrthe (Mountain Devil Lizard) Dreaming for Atnangkere and Ahalkere Country. This Dreaming story was the most significant for Ada along with her sisters, Kathleen, Gloria, Myrtle, Violet, Nancy and Jean Petyarre (also known as the Seven Petyarre Sisters).
JANICE PETRICK
DORRIE PETYARRE
GLORIA PETYARRE
Gloria Petyarre. b. 1942 (approx), Utopia. She is the niece of Emily and Kudditji Kngwarreye.
Her work is about women’s ceremonial designs. She has won many awards and her work is in every major Australian gallery collection. She was the first indigenous artist to win the Wynne Prize for landscape in 1999. She is part of a very exclusive circle of senior indigenous painters in this country and is highly collectable. |
JESSIE PETYARRE
Jessie Pwerle. b. 1957, MacDonald Downs Station. Also known as JESSIE Pwerle Hunter. Initially influenced by Lily Sandover Kngwarreye, she and her sisters later developed their distinctive floral style based on their country, Enteerba on Utopia as well as sugar bag (wild honey) and Awelye (women’s business).
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JEANNIE PETYARRE
KATHLEEN PETYARRE
Kathleen Petyarre was an Australian Aboriginal artist. Her art refers directly to her country and her Dreamings. Petyarre's paintings have occasionally been compared to the works of American Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, and even to those of J.M.W. Turner. She has won several awards and is considered one of the "most collectable artists in Australia". Her works are in great demand at auctions.
MARGARET TURNER PETYARRE
(1945 - 2008) born near Lake Nash (NT) she was one of the original ladies in the batik workshops which were the forerunner for the rise of distinctive contemporary indigenous art. She cultivated a minimalist dot style recording her Dreamings and ‘Awelye’ (women’s business) including women’s ceremonies, Bush medicine and bush tucker including the Bush Orange. She is numerous State and National collections. She is a highly collectable artist.
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NANCY PETYARRE
ROSEANNE MORTON PETYARRE
Roseann Morton Petyarre. b. Utopia. Daughter of Gracie Morton Pwerle. Her work includes themes from Kangaroo Dreaming and women’s body paint designs.
ALAN PITJARA
LONG JACK PHILLIPUS
ANNA PITJARA
BESSIE PITJARA
FREDA PRICE PITJARA
Freda Price Pitjara. b. 1965, Utopia. Daughter of famous artist Anna Price Pitjara and descendent of Emily and Kudditji Kngwarreye. Her paintings of My Mothers Story reflect the Dreaming stories passed down from her mother. Her work often has an ‘aerial’ aspect. Her Yam Flowers are monochromatic and colourful depictions of the yam plants which are common in Utopia and harvested by women as an important source of nutrition. For millennia, they have ground down yam seeds to make damper.
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JOY PITJARA
MARY RUMBLE PITJARA
NAOMI PRICE PITJARI
ANNA POPE
KAHTIJA POSSUM
MICHELLE POSSUM NUNGURRAYI
NYRULLA POSSUM-BURNS
NANCY ROSS NUNGURRAYI
TERESA PULA PRICE
RAYLEEN PULA
EVELYN PULTARA
Evelyn Pultara. B. ca1940, Woodgreen Station, near Utopia. Traditional Ammetyarre woman. Sister of Greeny Petyarre and niece of Emily and Kudditji Kngwarreye. Her totem is the bush yam (Antwelarr) and her works are saturated with colour. She won the most prestigious indigenous art prize in Australia — Telstra Art Prize, 2005.
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BETTY KUNTIWA PUMANI
Betty Kuntiwa Pumani. b. 1963, at Perentie Bore in Mimili community, approx 500km south west of Alice Springs in South Australia. She has twice won the high profile Telstra Indigenous Art Awards (2015 and 2016) as well as Australia’s most prestigious award for landscape , the Wynne Prize (2017). She still lives in Mimili and paints the Antara homeland of her mother (Milatjari Pumani, dec) . The land protects the “Maku Tjukurpa”. It is a spiritual place of sand hills, rocky mountains and waterholes. Her father was Sam Pumani (dec.). Her work is in the National Gallery and New South Wales Art Gallery as well as many significant collections in Australia. She is a highly acclaimed and very collectable artist with a very distinctive style.
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MARGARET SCOBIE (PUNGARDA)
Margaret Scobie Pungarda. b. 1948, Utopia. Niece of famous artistic Petyarre sisters, Gloria, Kathleen and Ada. Her work depicts Bush medicine leaves, honey ants, Mountain Devil and and women’s ceremonial body painting (“Awelye”).
NARPULA SCOBIE
RAELEEN PULA PRICE
GREENIE PURVIS
CHARMAINE PWERLE
Charmaine Pwerle. b. 1975 in Utopia. She is the granddaughter of the famous Minnie Pwerle and daughter of the equally renowned Barbara Weir and she has painted with the likes of Emily Kngwarreye and Gloria Petyarre. Her distinctive brushwork is dramatic and layered. She paints the Dreaming of ‘Awelye’ for which there is no easy translation. Generally it refers to women’s business. By all accounts her career is expected to follow her famous grandmother and mother and soar. She is represented by Galleries across Australia.
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CINDY MORTON PWERLE
Cindy Morton Pwerle.b. 1976, Utopia. Daughter of Gracie Morton Pwerle, Cindy is part of a dynasty of indigenous artists including her mother and aunts Kathleen and Gloria Petyarre. Her most common themes are the Bush Plum Dreaming and the epic travels of the ‘Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming’. As the sacred lizard crawls through the landscape it creates mountains and valleys. The Dreaming stories tell us the Bush Plum seeds were blown across the world at the time of creation. Her detailed dot paintings resemble the land as seen from the air. She is a highly collectable artist.
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GRACIE MORTON PWERLE
Gracie Morton Pwerle. (Birth date unknown) Utopia. Mother was artist Myrtle Petyarre. Gracie was one of the original artists to participate in the famous 1977 Utopia Women’s Batik program in 1977 moving to painting in the late 80s. Her beautifully modulated colourful works reflect the Bush plum (or ‘Amwekety’) “In accordance to traditional law, the responsibility for the Bush Plum Dreaming has been passed down to Gracie Morton Pwerle by her father and aunt.” (Source: Boomerang Art). She is in most major Australian gallery collections.
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LISA MILLS PWERLE
Lisa Mills Pwerle. b. 1970, MacDonnel Downs Station, Utopia. Daughter of Dolly Mills Petyarre and sister of Jeannie Mills Petyarre. She lives a traditional life in Utopia. She paints about the bush yam plants which are an important source of nutrition in this part of Australia and are the subject of women’s ceremonies.
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MINNIE PWERLE
Minnie Pwerle. (1910-2006) Utopia. One of the most famous indigenous artists in Australia’s history. She is sister to Pwerle sisters Emily, Molly and Galya. Minnie started painting in her early 80s. Her modernist interpretation of Dreaming stories and women’s ceremonies and body paint (“Awelye Atnwengerrp”) gained her fame and acclaim. Her beautiful and colourful gestural lines represent body paint, dancing tracks in the sand and sacred ceremonial spaces.
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PETRINE MILLS (PWERLE)
Petrine Mills Pwerle. No birth date. Utopia. Daughter of Jeannie Mills Pwerle. She paints the Bush potato or desert yam story of this part of Australia. The yam is a root vegetable with an above ground vine growing up to 1m high. It’s found on spinifex sand plains and has a pink flower which blossoms after summer rains. The tuber is much like sweet potato. It is a staple food for this area.
RAMMWY RAMSEY
ADAM REID
Adam Reid is a post-war & contemporary painter. Adam Reid's work has been offered at auction multiple times in Australia and overseas. His style incorporates a number of different mark making techniques and his vivid use of colours always makes an impact.
GARY WILSON REID
SELMA ROSS
HELEN RUBUNTJA
Helen Rubuntja was born at the Ammaroo station, located 350km North- east of Alice Springs and now resides in the major artist community of Utopia.
Helen is the daughter of the prominent artist Nelly Rubuntja. Over time Helen has developed her artistic skill, which can be seen through her interpretation of “Bush Seeds” where she demonstrates her attentive and meticulous line and dot work.
Helen depicts the masses of multi-coloured bush seeds scattered across her country - often the aftermath of severe winds.
Bush seeds, found in Utopia are essential to traditional living. They have a multitude of purposes. Bush seeds are often ground down and mixed with traditional ochres to create the body paint known as 'Awelye' which the women paint on their breasts during their traditional ceremonies.
The bush seeds are also utilised by being ground down and made into damper, which is a common staple food source for Central Desert indigenous peoples.
Helen is the daughter of the prominent artist Nelly Rubuntja. Over time Helen has developed her artistic skill, which can be seen through her interpretation of “Bush Seeds” where she demonstrates her attentive and meticulous line and dot work.
Helen depicts the masses of multi-coloured bush seeds scattered across her country - often the aftermath of severe winds.
Bush seeds, found in Utopia are essential to traditional living. They have a multitude of purposes. Bush seeds are often ground down and mixed with traditional ochres to create the body paint known as 'Awelye' which the women paint on their breasts during their traditional ceremonies.
The bush seeds are also utilised by being ground down and made into damper, which is a common staple food source for Central Desert indigenous peoples.
RICHARD STAINES
RAELENE STEVENS
BILLY STOCKMAN
Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri (born about 1927 of the Anmatyerr people) survived a massacre of Aboriginal people in 1928 in which the rest of his family were killed (source: National Museum of Australia). He worked as a stockman and later as a cook in Papunya. He was one of the founders of the Papunya painting movement, an Aboriginal Arts Board member (1975–79) and a chairman of Papunya Tula Artists (1976–77). In 1977 he attended the World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Nigeria, which featured Papunya Tula art.
He continued to paint until the late 1990s.Billy Stockman’s work is exhibited worldwide including National Art Gallery of New Zealand, Australian National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of Western Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Art Gallery of South Australia, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami and many more. Australian National Gallery of Victoria purchased Billy Stockman painting 'Yala Dreaming' (54.5 cm by 46 cm) for $200,500.
He continued to paint until the late 1990s.Billy Stockman’s work is exhibited worldwide including National Art Gallery of New Zealand, Australian National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of Western Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Art Gallery of South Australia, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami and many more. Australian National Gallery of Victoria purchased Billy Stockman painting 'Yala Dreaming' (54.5 cm by 46 cm) for $200,500.
TREPHINA SULTAN
Trephina Sultan Thanguwa. b. 1967, Kings Canyon, Luritja language country, West of Alice Springs. She comes from a family of artists. While her earlier work was more traditional her more recent works have been more experimental with freer brush strokes and stringer colour.
RONNIE THAMPITJINPA
RINI TIGER
FREDDIE TIMS
RONNIE TJAMPITJINPA
CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri painted some of his earliest and most admired acrylic dot paintings in the modern Aboriginal art movement. Most of his powerful, richly coloured art was inspired by Aboriginal mythology known as the Dreaming, or Dreamtime.
Tjapaltjarri worked as a cattle stockman from the age of 12, wood carving in his free time, until he joined an art program at the Papunya mission in the 1960s. In 1972 the students formed a company, Papunya Tula Artists, and Tjapaltjarri’s intricate paintings gained attention.
In 1983 he was awarded the Alice Springs Art Prize, and the National Gallery of Australia purchased his massive 3.7 × 2.4-m (12 × 8-ft) painting “Honey Ant Eater”. Five years later the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London mounted a retrospective of his works. Tjapaltjarri was made an Officer of the Order of Australia just days before his death.
Tjapaltjarri worked as a cattle stockman from the age of 12, wood carving in his free time, until he joined an art program at the Papunya mission in the 1960s. In 1972 the students formed a company, Papunya Tula Artists, and Tjapaltjarri’s intricate paintings gained attention.
In 1983 he was awarded the Alice Springs Art Prize, and the National Gallery of Australia purchased his massive 3.7 × 2.4-m (12 × 8-ft) painting “Honey Ant Eater”. Five years later the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London mounted a retrospective of his works. Tjapaltjarri was made an Officer of the Order of Australia just days before his death.
TJAMPAWA KAWINI
SAM TJAMPITJIN
Sam Tjampitjin was one of the older generation of Balgo Artists who walked out of the bush into the Old Balgo Mission at Tjumundu in 1942. Then in his early teens, he was inducted into the Catholic Church.
In the early 1980’s a number of Pintupi and Kukatja men traveled between Balgo Hills, Kiwirrkura and Kintore visiting relatives and exchanging news of the painting movement that had been initiated at Papunya. The resultant work had strong iconographic relations with sacred imagery formerly restricted to Tjuringa stones, body painting and ceremonial sand drawing. Many of the men that began painting were senior ceremonial leaders and custodians of the most secret and sacred Dreamings. Between 1982 and 1987, when Warlayirti Artists was established, important culture men experimented with acrylic paint and explored their Dreamings on small canvas boards. They avoided sacred imagery, but focused on depictions of important locations where major events occurred during the creation that shaped their world.
Sam Tjampitjin’s art primarily focused on the sacred sites of men’s ceremonial business. It was distinguished by the unique way in which he adapted the sacred designs seen on men’s ceremonial objects into minimal iconography, representing maps of these sites. He frequently depicted a series of clay pans surrounded by sand hills where for generations men congregated to conduct Law Business. Series of concentric rectangles record the pattern left as the water slowly recedes during the arid summers. Grid-like structures in his paintings are characteristic of the aesthetic of Kukatja men, with a preference for formal, linear work. Tjampitjin kept his imagery simple to create a profound contemporary equivalent to sacred objects without literally referring to them.
Sam’s preference for geometric compositional structure was maintained throughout his career. However his palette underwent many transformations, culminating in the dazzling pastels of his post 2000 works.Sam Tjampitjin was an incredibly gifted artist and one of Balgo’s finest male painters. His paintings conveyed, as with those of his elder brother and accomplished artist Sunfly Tjampitjin, the inherent power located within specific sites. His legacy, as part of the first generation of Balgo Artists, is as profound as the deep wellsprings of his knowledge, and his standing as a senior custodian and participant in sacred Men’s Law.
In the early 1980’s a number of Pintupi and Kukatja men traveled between Balgo Hills, Kiwirrkura and Kintore visiting relatives and exchanging news of the painting movement that had been initiated at Papunya. The resultant work had strong iconographic relations with sacred imagery formerly restricted to Tjuringa stones, body painting and ceremonial sand drawing. Many of the men that began painting were senior ceremonial leaders and custodians of the most secret and sacred Dreamings. Between 1982 and 1987, when Warlayirti Artists was established, important culture men experimented with acrylic paint and explored their Dreamings on small canvas boards. They avoided sacred imagery, but focused on depictions of important locations where major events occurred during the creation that shaped their world.
Sam Tjampitjin’s art primarily focused on the sacred sites of men’s ceremonial business. It was distinguished by the unique way in which he adapted the sacred designs seen on men’s ceremonial objects into minimal iconography, representing maps of these sites. He frequently depicted a series of clay pans surrounded by sand hills where for generations men congregated to conduct Law Business. Series of concentric rectangles record the pattern left as the water slowly recedes during the arid summers. Grid-like structures in his paintings are characteristic of the aesthetic of Kukatja men, with a preference for formal, linear work. Tjampitjin kept his imagery simple to create a profound contemporary equivalent to sacred objects without literally referring to them.
Sam’s preference for geometric compositional structure was maintained throughout his career. However his palette underwent many transformations, culminating in the dazzling pastels of his post 2000 works.Sam Tjampitjin was an incredibly gifted artist and one of Balgo’s finest male painters. His paintings conveyed, as with those of his elder brother and accomplished artist Sunfly Tjampitjin, the inherent power located within specific sites. His legacy, as part of the first generation of Balgo Artists, is as profound as the deep wellsprings of his knowledge, and his standing as a senior custodian and participant in sacred Men’s Law.
TITUAN ROSS TJAMPITJIN
ALBURY DIXON TJANGALA
PADDY TJANGALA
THOMAS TJAPALTJARRI
Thomas Tjapaltjarri (b. 1964, Marua, East of Kiwwirrkurra, Gibson Desert, Western Australia)
He (along with brothers Walala and Warlimpirrnga) was among the 8 family members who made international headlines as “the Last Nomads” or “Lost Desert Tribe” in 1984 when they walked out of the desert and met white people for the first time. Thomas started painting in 1987. Thomas and Walal joined the Papunya artist group. His paintings reflect the Dreaming of the Pintupi, in particular the ‘Tingari Cycle’ which is a series of sacred and mythological song cycles that describe the journey of the Ancestors in the Dreamtime (Tjukurrpa) as they travelled through the land creating particular sites and teaching Aboriginal law.” (Source: Boomerang Art).
His work is represented in most public collections in Australia and collections overseas.
He (along with brothers Walala and Warlimpirrnga) was among the 8 family members who made international headlines as “the Last Nomads” or “Lost Desert Tribe” in 1984 when they walked out of the desert and met white people for the first time. Thomas started painting in 1987. Thomas and Walal joined the Papunya artist group. His paintings reflect the Dreaming of the Pintupi, in particular the ‘Tingari Cycle’ which is a series of sacred and mythological song cycles that describe the journey of the Ancestors in the Dreamtime (Tjukurrpa) as they travelled through the land creating particular sites and teaching Aboriginal law.” (Source: Boomerang Art).
His work is represented in most public collections in Australia and collections overseas.
PADDY SIMS TJAPALTJARRI
WALALA TJAPALTJARRI
Walala Tjapaltjarri (b. C. 1969, Marua, East of Kiwwirrkurra, Gibson Desert, Western Australia)
He was among the 8 family members who made international headlines as the “Lost Desert Tribe” in 1984 when they walked out of the desert and met white people for the first time. “Walala is well known for his paintings of the Tingari Cycle, an important Dreaming for the Pintupi, which is a series of sacred and mythological song cycles that describe the journey of the Ancestors in the Dreamtime (Tjukurrpa) as they travelled through the land creating particular sites and teaching Aboriginal law.” (Source: Boomerang Art). His work is represented in most public collections in Australia. He now lives in Alice Springs. |
WARLIMPIRRNGA (WARLIMPIRRI) TJAPALTJARRI
CHARLIE TJAPANGATI
Charlie Tjapangarti, born circa 1949, at Tjulurrunya north west of Jupiter Wells of the Pintupi Tribe.
He started painting for Papunya Tula in 1977 & in 1981 travelled to USA with Billy Stockman for the exhibition “Mr. Sandman bring me a Dream”. He is the younger brother of Nanyuma Napangati and Bambatu Cambell Napangardi. He normally paints dreamings of the Tingari cycle. He is a Highly respected Papunya Tula artist and very much sought after by collectors worldwide.
He started painting for Papunya Tula in 1977 & in 1981 travelled to USA with Billy Stockman for the exhibition “Mr. Sandman bring me a Dream”. He is the younger brother of Nanyuma Napangati and Bambatu Cambell Napangardi. He normally paints dreamings of the Tingari cycle. He is a Highly respected Papunya Tula artist and very much sought after by collectors worldwide.
DINNY NOLAN TJAPANGATI
KELLY TJULYATJA
BRANDY GUNMANA TJUNGURRAYI
GEORGE HAIRBRUSH TJUNGURRAYI
George [Hairbrush] Tjungurrayi was born near Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia. His homeland is claypan type country in which soakage water is used by the travelling men and the small ‘mungilypa’ shrub that grows profusely in this region. He came in from the desert via Mount Doreen and Yuendumu.
In the mid 1970’s both George and his older brother Willy, also an established Pintupi artist, commenced their painting careers as apprentices for Papunya Tula Artists. George has painted at various locations, including Mt Liebig (Yamunturrngu) and Kintore (Walungurru), and at the Yayayi and Waruwiya outstations, working alongside Joseph Jurra Tjapatjarri and Ray James Tjangala. His subject matter references his ancestral country, its Tingari Stories and the various sites surrounding the area such as Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya, north-west of Kintore. Originally his artwork employed the typical Western Desert image bound to subtle hues, however his art style has evolved and re-shaped to include the brighter hues which dominates his canvases.
In the mid 1970’s both George and his older brother Willy, also an established Pintupi artist, commenced their painting careers as apprentices for Papunya Tula Artists. George has painted at various locations, including Mt Liebig (Yamunturrngu) and Kintore (Walungurru), and at the Yayayi and Waruwiya outstations, working alongside Joseph Jurra Tjapatjarri and Ray James Tjangala. His subject matter references his ancestral country, its Tingari Stories and the various sites surrounding the area such as Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya, north-west of Kintore. Originally his artwork employed the typical Western Desert image bound to subtle hues, however his art style has evolved and re-shaped to include the brighter hues which dominates his canvases.
PATRICK TJUNGURRAYI
Patrick Tjungurrayi 1935 (approx) - 2017
Patrick painted regularly in the late 80s, eventually becoming a senior artist for Papunya Tula Artists. In the late 1990s, He was heavily involved in the movement by western desert artists to raise money for dialysis units on-country, culminating in the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal which raised over $1 million.
Over the years, Patrick continued to grow in stature and acclaim as an artist, his status being cemented in 2008 when he won the prestigious Western Australian Premier's Indigenous Art Award with his depiction of scrub fire in his Gibson Desert homeland. After this, Patrick's artworks continued to rise in value with works selling for in excess of $80,000. Sadly he died in 2017.
"If contemporary Aboriginal art has become renowned for its flickering, optical power, then Patrick Tjungurrayi would have to be described as a master of the form. His works pulse with desert warmth and where all too much Aboriginal art on the market appears to be a pastiche of traditional forms to capture a bewildered and naive market, Tjungurrayi's work is both unique in structure and indisputably heart-felt." Australian Art Collector Magazine 2005.
Patrick painted regularly in the late 80s, eventually becoming a senior artist for Papunya Tula Artists. In the late 1990s, He was heavily involved in the movement by western desert artists to raise money for dialysis units on-country, culminating in the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal which raised over $1 million.
Over the years, Patrick continued to grow in stature and acclaim as an artist, his status being cemented in 2008 when he won the prestigious Western Australian Premier's Indigenous Art Award with his depiction of scrub fire in his Gibson Desert homeland. After this, Patrick's artworks continued to rise in value with works selling for in excess of $80,000. Sadly he died in 2017.
"If contemporary Aboriginal art has become renowned for its flickering, optical power, then Patrick Tjungurrayi would have to be described as a master of the form. His works pulse with desert warmth and where all too much Aboriginal art on the market appears to be a pastiche of traditional forms to capture a bewildered and naive market, Tjungurrayi's work is both unique in structure and indisputably heart-felt." Australian Art Collector Magazine 2005.
WILLY TJUNGURRAYI
WANDJINA AND ANIMAL TOTEMS
UNKNOWN
JUDY WATSON
NYANKULYA WATSON
Nyankulya was born at Mt Aloysius, at a rockhole not far from the tri state border, sometime around 1938. As a teenager she lived at Anumarapiti, now an outstation of Irrunytju.
She remembers shortly after this time white fellas came and told her family to go to Ernabella. It was good at the mission, there was lots of flour, tea and sugar. In the morning we would listen for the bell, then we would line up for food, go to church and then to work.
Nyankulya was a founding member of Irrunytju Arts. She now resides at Kalka and Nyapari communities in South Australia.
She remembers shortly after this time white fellas came and told her family to go to Ernabella. It was good at the mission, there was lots of flour, tea and sugar. In the morning we would listen for the bell, then we would line up for food, go to church and then to work.
Nyankulya was a founding member of Irrunytju Arts. She now resides at Kalka and Nyapari communities in South Australia.
TOMMY WATSON
LYNETTE NAPANANKA
Lynette Napanangka is a Warlpiri artist who currently paints for Warlukurlangu Art Centre in the Northern Territory.
Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation of Yuendumu was incorporated in 1986. Warlukurlangu is a not for profit organisation that has more than 600 members, all of whom are Indigenous artists. It is directed by an executive committee of eight men and eight women representing all the 'skin groups'. It meets regularly to set policy, make decisions about the organisation and direct staff.
Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation of Yuendumu was incorporated in 1986. Warlukurlangu is a not for profit organisation that has more than 600 members, all of whom are Indigenous artists. It is directed by an executive committee of eight men and eight women representing all the 'skin groups'. It meets regularly to set policy, make decisions about the organisation and direct staff.
PADDY FORDHAM WAINBURRANGA
BARBARA WEIR
Born 1945, Bundy River Station (NT) part of the Anmatyerre/Alyawarre language group and the Utopia community. She is one of the most collectible indigenous artists and comes from indigenous artistic nobility. Her mother was the famous Minnie Pwerle and her father was an Irish station owner Jack Weir. Her aunt was the equally famous Emily Kngwarreye.
Some of her work depicts the caves where she collected water in traditional coolamons. It was when she was collecting water at the age of 10 she was taken by authorities because she was in the vernacular of the time “half caste” or mixed race heritage. Despite resistance she kept talking her language and consequently was moved further and further away from her community. She was also lied to and told her mother Minnie Pwerle was dead. It was only after she married and moved to the Pupunya area that she accidentally found out her family was still alive. By this stage she had only one or two words of language and she had difficulty communicating with her family. In1977 she returned home permanently with her children and had another 3 children in her country and immersed her family in local traditions and lore. Understandably her daughters who were raised in these deep traditions have also become great artists.
Barbara worked very closely with Emily Kngwarreye as she soared to the top of the Australian art ladder. After the death of Emily in 1996, Barbara’s own work continued to evolve, with themes including including her ‘grass seed’ and ‘my country’ paintings and paintings that include very earthy tones and natural pigments. She has traveled widely overseas with her work.
She is widely represented (including State galleries in SA, Qld, Victoria and collections such as AMP, Hitachi, QCA, UK Embassy in Canberra, Macquarie Bank, University of Adelaide and Netherlands). She has won numerous awards and been a finalist many times in the TELSTRA NATSIAA prize.
Some of her work depicts the caves where she collected water in traditional coolamons. It was when she was collecting water at the age of 10 she was taken by authorities because she was in the vernacular of the time “half caste” or mixed race heritage. Despite resistance she kept talking her language and consequently was moved further and further away from her community. She was also lied to and told her mother Minnie Pwerle was dead. It was only after she married and moved to the Pupunya area that she accidentally found out her family was still alive. By this stage she had only one or two words of language and she had difficulty communicating with her family. In1977 she returned home permanently with her children and had another 3 children in her country and immersed her family in local traditions and lore. Understandably her daughters who were raised in these deep traditions have also become great artists.
Barbara worked very closely with Emily Kngwarreye as she soared to the top of the Australian art ladder. After the death of Emily in 1996, Barbara’s own work continued to evolve, with themes including including her ‘grass seed’ and ‘my country’ paintings and paintings that include very earthy tones and natural pigments. She has traveled widely overseas with her work.
She is widely represented (including State galleries in SA, Qld, Victoria and collections such as AMP, Hitachi, QCA, UK Embassy in Canberra, Macquarie Bank, University of Adelaide and Netherlands). She has won numerous awards and been a finalist many times in the TELSTRA NATSIAA prize.
BILL WHISKEY
KAY WILLIS
ELAINE WOODS
The famous Woods family of artists are part of the distinguished Tjungu Palma community art centre located at the base of the Mann Ranges in the heart of Pitjantjatjara country 100km south of Uluru. The centre represents 3 communities— Kanpi, Nyapari and Watarru. For the Pitjantjatjara people ‘Tjukurpa’ (ceremonial and cultural law) is at the core of community.
Janet (or Janice) and Eileen are sisters and both are daughters of the famous Maringka Baker.
Their rich highly coloured and evocative art stems from their sense of Tjukurpa, their Dreaming and their country.
Janet (or Janice) and Eileen are sisters and both are daughters of the famous Maringka Baker.
Their rich highly coloured and evocative art stems from their sense of Tjukurpa, their Dreaming and their country.
JANET (JANICE) WOODS
The famous Woods family of artists are part of the distinguished Tjungu Palma community art centre located at the base of the Mann Ranges in the heart of Pitjantjatjara country 100km south of Uluru. The centre represents 3 communities— Kanpi, Nyapari and Watarru. For the Pitjantjatjara people ‘Tjukurpa’ (ceremonial and cultural law) is at the core of community.
Janet (or Janice) and Eileen are sisters and both are daughters of the famous Maringka Baker.
Their rich highly coloured and evocative art stems from their sense of Tjukurpa, their Dreaming and their country.
Janet (or Janice) and Eileen are sisters and both are daughters of the famous Maringka Baker.
Their rich highly coloured and evocative art stems from their sense of Tjukurpa, their Dreaming and their country.
VENITA WOODS
The famous Woods family of artists are part of the distinguished Tjungu Palma community art centre located at the base of the Mann Ranges in the heart of Pitjantjatjara country 100km south of Uluru. The centre represents 3 communities— Kanpi, Nyapari and Watarru. For the Pitjantjatjara people ‘Tjukurpa’ (ceremonial and cultural law) is at the core of community.
Janet (or Janice) and Eileen are sisters and both are daughters of the famous Maringka Baker.
Their rich highly coloured and evocative art stems from their sense of Tjukurpa, their Dreaming and their country.
Janet (or Janice) and Eileen are sisters and both are daughters of the famous Maringka Baker.
Their rich highly coloured and evocative art stems from their sense of Tjukurpa, their Dreaming and their country.
WOOGAROONG
JULIE YATJITJA
Julie Yatjitja. Born in the Iwantja creek area, she was raised in a wiltja (traditional hut). As a young person she grew up among the watering holes and creeks of the area and foraged for feed including the honey ants. Her paintings reflect the pools and waterways of her youth. Her style has developed in recent years and she has become a leading member of the Iwantja arts community. She is a highly collectable artist.
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YINGARU NUNGAKA
LOLA BROWN YUENDUM