Andrea Adamson 1
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 4
Bio: Shane Ambrum. b. 1965, 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 Seat Islanders blackbirded from Ambrum Island in the 1800s to labour in cane fields. His work explores themes of family connections, dispossession and separation.
Maryone Brown 1 b. 1967. No bio details at the moment.
Sally Clark 3
Bio: 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. 1
Bio: Rodney Cook. No birth date. His work reflects more traditional indigenous art styles.
Madeline Gibson 1
Bio. Madeline Gibson. Warlayirti artist.
Clayton Hunter 1. (No bio details at the moment)
Michael Nelson Jagamarra. 1
Bio: 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.
Paddy Sims Japaltjarri 2
Bio: 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.
Patricia Kamara 3
Bio: Patricia Kamara. B. 1960, Utopia, approx 300km north east of Alice Spring, Northern Territory. Her work is primarily about medicine seeds and pods from native flora.
Abie Loy Kemarre 1
Bio: 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.
Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken 1
Bio: 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.
Emily Kngwarreye 1
Bio: Emily Kngwarreye. (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.
Belinda Golder (Kngwarreye) 7
Bio: Belinda Golder Kngwarreye. No birth date. Utopia. Daughter of Bessie Petyarre and granddaughter of Polly Ngale. 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.
Kudditji Kngwarreye 1
Bio: 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” (Wikipedia)
Mary Lewis 1
Betty Club Mbjitjana. 8
BIO: Betty Club (Mbjitjana) b. 1957 Utopia. Daughter of acclaimed Minnie Pwerle, sister of artist Barbara Weir and niece of Emily Pwerle. Her colourful, innovative works express her version of traditional stories and are much sought after.
Nellie Marks (Nakamarra) 4
Bio: 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.
Sonia Daniels (Nakamarra) 2
Bio: Sonia Daniels Nakamarra. 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.
Felicity Robertson (Nampitjinpa) 1
Bio: 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.
Rosie Corby Nampitjinpa 1 (no bio details at the moment)
Tjawina Porter Nampitjinpa 2
Bio: 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.
Debra McDonald (Nangala) 3
Bio: 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.
Eileen Bird (Nangala). 1.
Bio: 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.
Yinarupa Nangala 1. No bio details at the moment.
Geraldine Nowee Napaltjarri 1. 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)
Delores Farber (Napaltjarri) 1. (No bio details at the moment)
Maisie Campbell (Napaltjarri) 2
Bio: 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.
Mavis Jugadai Napaltjarri 1
Bio: 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.
Meredith Daniels (Napaltjarri) 1
Bio: Meredith Daniels Napaltjarri. b. 1980, Yarripilangu community, Haasts Bluff. Has been painting since 2014. Her country is near Liebig where she predominantly lives.
Ngoia Pollard (Napaltjarri) 1
Bio: 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.
Elsie Granites (Napanangka) 3
Bio: 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.
Freda Tjemma Napanangka 1. (Freda is one of agroup of 3 Warlayirti Great Sandy Desert artists whose work is grouped together. Others are Genevieve Nowee Napaltjarri and Pukurny Mick Gill Tjakamarra.)
Lynette Williams (Napanangka) 1
Bio. Lynette Napanangka Williams. No birth date. Lynette is a Warlipiri woman and is part of the Warlukurlangu Artists Corporation.
Nancy Gibson (Napanangka)1
Bio: 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 1
Bio: 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.
Lilly Kelly Napangardi 1
Bio: 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.
Barbara Reid Napangardi 1
Bio: 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.
Bio: Mitjili Napurrula 3
Bio: 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.
Sylvaria Jones (Napurrula Walker) 1
Bio: 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.
Jorna Newberry 2
Bio: 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.
Polly Ngale 2
Bio: Polly Ngale. (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.
Louise Numina (Napanangka) 3
Bio: 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.
Andrea Martin (Nungarrayi) 1
Bio: 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). 2
Bio: Lynette Corby Nungarrayi. b. 1958, Mount Liebig community (Watiyawanu) , Northern Territory (west of Alice Springs). She is part of the Papunya painting community. Her colourful, layered work depicts ‘tree root Dreaming; as well as ‘Rock Holes’. She is in a number of public collections.
Pati 2
Stephen Berger (Pengarte) 3.
Bio. 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.
Gloria Petyarre 4
Bio: 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.
Betty Club (Mbitjana / Petyarre) 7
Roseanne Morton Petyarre 1
Bio: Roseann Morton Petyarre. b. Utopia. Daughter of Gracie Morton Pwerle. Her work includes themes from Kangaroo Dreaming and women’s body paint designs.
Freda Price (Pitjara) 1
Bio: 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.
Mary Rumble Pitjara 8
Bio: Mary Rumble Pitjara. b. 1957 (approx), Utopia. Niece of Gloria Petyarre and Gracie Morton Pwerle, she has developed her own painting style, depicting diverse themes of Kangaroo Dreaming, bush tucker, medicine leaves and body paint design (Awelye). She is becoming a very collectable artist.
Teresa Pula Price 1
Bio: Teresa Pula Price. b. Utopia. Niece of Emily and Kudditji Kngwarreye and sister of renowned artist Anna Price Pitjara, she is party of a dynasty of great Utopian artists. In beautifully modulated tones and intricate dot work she paints her country and themes around bush medicine leaves.
Evelyn Pultara 1
Bio 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.
Margaret Scobie (Pungarda) 2
Bio. 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”).
Cindy Morton Pwerle 3
Bio: 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.
Gracie Morton Pwerle 2
Bio: 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.
Minnie Pwerle 2
Bio. 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.
Lisa Mills (Pwerle) 2
Bio: 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.
Petrina Mills (Pwerle) 1
Bio. 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.
Adam Reid 1. (No bio information)
Raelene Stevens 1. (No bio information)
Trephina Sultan (Thanguwa) 4
Bio: 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.
Pukurny Mick Gill Tjakamarra . 1. (Mick is one of group of 3 Warlayirti Great Sandy Desert artists whose work is grouped together. Others are Genevieve Nowee Napaltjarri and Freda Tjemma Napanangka)
Walala Tjapaltjarri 12
Bio: 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.
Thomas Tjapaltjarri 1
Bio: 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.
TItuan Ross Tjampitjin 1. (No bio detail for the moment.)
Kelly Tjulyatja 1
Bio: Kelly Tjulyatja. b.1930. No other information available
Eileen Woods 1. No bio details available
Janet Woods 2. (No bio information)
Woogaroong 1 (No bio information)
Julie Yatjitja. 2.
Bio; 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.
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 4
Bio: Shane Ambrum. b. 1965, 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 Seat Islanders blackbirded from Ambrum Island in the 1800s to labour in cane fields. His work explores themes of family connections, dispossession and separation.
Maryone Brown 1 b. 1967. No bio details at the moment.
Sally Clark 3
Bio: 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. 1
Bio: Rodney Cook. No birth date. His work reflects more traditional indigenous art styles.
Madeline Gibson 1
Bio. Madeline Gibson. Warlayirti artist.
Clayton Hunter 1. (No bio details at the moment)
Michael Nelson Jagamarra. 1
Bio: 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.
Paddy Sims Japaltjarri 2
Bio: 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.
Patricia Kamara 3
Bio: Patricia Kamara. B. 1960, Utopia, approx 300km north east of Alice Spring, Northern Territory. Her work is primarily about medicine seeds and pods from native flora.
Abie Loy Kemarre 1
Bio: 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.
Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken 1
Bio: 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.
Emily Kngwarreye 1
Bio: Emily Kngwarreye. (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.
Belinda Golder (Kngwarreye) 7
Bio: Belinda Golder Kngwarreye. No birth date. Utopia. Daughter of Bessie Petyarre and granddaughter of Polly Ngale. 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.
Kudditji Kngwarreye 1
Bio: 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” (Wikipedia)
Mary Lewis 1
Betty Club Mbjitjana. 8
BIO: Betty Club (Mbjitjana) b. 1957 Utopia. Daughter of acclaimed Minnie Pwerle, sister of artist Barbara Weir and niece of Emily Pwerle. Her colourful, innovative works express her version of traditional stories and are much sought after.
Nellie Marks (Nakamarra) 4
Bio: 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.
Sonia Daniels (Nakamarra) 2
Bio: Sonia Daniels Nakamarra. 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.
Felicity Robertson (Nampitjinpa) 1
Bio: 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.
Rosie Corby Nampitjinpa 1 (no bio details at the moment)
Tjawina Porter Nampitjinpa 2
Bio: 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.
Debra McDonald (Nangala) 3
Bio: 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.
Eileen Bird (Nangala). 1.
Bio: 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.
Yinarupa Nangala 1. No bio details at the moment.
Geraldine Nowee Napaltjarri 1. 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)
Delores Farber (Napaltjarri) 1. (No bio details at the moment)
Maisie Campbell (Napaltjarri) 2
Bio: 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.
Mavis Jugadai Napaltjarri 1
Bio: 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.
Meredith Daniels (Napaltjarri) 1
Bio: Meredith Daniels Napaltjarri. b. 1980, Yarripilangu community, Haasts Bluff. Has been painting since 2014. Her country is near Liebig where she predominantly lives.
Ngoia Pollard (Napaltjarri) 1
Bio: 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.
Elsie Granites (Napanangka) 3
Bio: 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.
Freda Tjemma Napanangka 1. (Freda is one of agroup of 3 Warlayirti Great Sandy Desert artists whose work is grouped together. Others are Genevieve Nowee Napaltjarri and Pukurny Mick Gill Tjakamarra.)
Lynette Williams (Napanangka) 1
Bio. Lynette Napanangka Williams. No birth date. Lynette is a Warlipiri woman and is part of the Warlukurlangu Artists Corporation.
Nancy Gibson (Napanangka)1
Bio: 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 1
Bio: 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.
Lilly Kelly Napangardi 1
Bio: 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.
Barbara Reid Napangardi 1
Bio: 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.
Bio: Mitjili Napurrula 3
Bio: 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.
Sylvaria Jones (Napurrula Walker) 1
Bio: 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.
Jorna Newberry 2
Bio: 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.
Polly Ngale 2
Bio: Polly Ngale. (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.
Louise Numina (Napanangka) 3
Bio: 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.
Andrea Martin (Nungarrayi) 1
Bio: 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). 2
Bio: Lynette Corby Nungarrayi. b. 1958, Mount Liebig community (Watiyawanu) , Northern Territory (west of Alice Springs). She is part of the Papunya painting community. Her colourful, layered work depicts ‘tree root Dreaming; as well as ‘Rock Holes’. She is in a number of public collections.
Pati 2
Stephen Berger (Pengarte) 3.
Bio. 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.
Gloria Petyarre 4
Bio: 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.
Betty Club (Mbitjana / Petyarre) 7
Roseanne Morton Petyarre 1
Bio: Roseann Morton Petyarre. b. Utopia. Daughter of Gracie Morton Pwerle. Her work includes themes from Kangaroo Dreaming and women’s body paint designs.
Freda Price (Pitjara) 1
Bio: 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.
Mary Rumble Pitjara 8
Bio: Mary Rumble Pitjara. b. 1957 (approx), Utopia. Niece of Gloria Petyarre and Gracie Morton Pwerle, she has developed her own painting style, depicting diverse themes of Kangaroo Dreaming, bush tucker, medicine leaves and body paint design (Awelye). She is becoming a very collectable artist.
Teresa Pula Price 1
Bio: Teresa Pula Price. b. Utopia. Niece of Emily and Kudditji Kngwarreye and sister of renowned artist Anna Price Pitjara, she is party of a dynasty of great Utopian artists. In beautifully modulated tones and intricate dot work she paints her country and themes around bush medicine leaves.
Evelyn Pultara 1
Bio 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.
Margaret Scobie (Pungarda) 2
Bio. 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”).
Cindy Morton Pwerle 3
Bio: 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.
Gracie Morton Pwerle 2
Bio: 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.
Minnie Pwerle 2
Bio. 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.
Lisa Mills (Pwerle) 2
Bio: 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.
Petrina Mills (Pwerle) 1
Bio. 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.
Adam Reid 1. (No bio information)
Raelene Stevens 1. (No bio information)
Trephina Sultan (Thanguwa) 4
Bio: 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.
Pukurny Mick Gill Tjakamarra . 1. (Mick is one of group of 3 Warlayirti Great Sandy Desert artists whose work is grouped together. Others are Genevieve Nowee Napaltjarri and Freda Tjemma Napanangka)
Walala Tjapaltjarri 12
Bio: 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.
Thomas Tjapaltjarri 1
Bio: 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.
TItuan Ross Tjampitjin 1. (No bio detail for the moment.)
Kelly Tjulyatja 1
Bio: Kelly Tjulyatja. b.1930. No other information available
Eileen Woods 1. No bio details available
Janet Woods 2. (No bio information)
Woogaroong 1 (No bio information)
Julie Yatjitja. 2.
Bio; 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.