AABN
Source Gallery: Yanda Aboriginal Art, Alice Springs, NT

ARTIST PROFILE




Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa (Mrs Bennett)
 

DOB: c. 1926
Birthsite: Irlpantji near Gills Pinnacle Rawlinson Ranges, Western Australia
Language: Pitjantjatjarra and Ngaatjatjarra
Subsection: Karimarra
Moiety: Ngumpalurru

Historical
Married to the late John John Tjapangati Bennett (a Pintupi speaker from Mukulurru, also north of the Docker River)

Painting
Nyurapayia was a participant in the Kintore-Haasts Bluff collaborative canvas project in 1994. This resulted in an exhibition titled Minyma Tjukurrpa and was held at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute in 1995. Other exhibitions of her works include 'Twenty-five Years and Beyond' (1999) and 'Australia Perspecta' (1999).

Nyurapayia favours the use of strong contrasts using blacks and pale yellows/creams set in relief against a red/tan background.

Her designs are based on the stories relating to women's ceremony and often depict the gathering of traditional bush foods and the rituals that are connected with their preparation.  The depictions of the sand dune country and surrounding rocky outcrops bear a relationship to the designs used for body painting during the ceremonial dance referred to as "inma".

Represented
National Gallery of Victoria
Flinders University Art Museum
Art Gallery of New South Wales