Michelle Possum Nungurrayi / Grandmother’s Country (19723)

Born in 1969, Michelle Possum Nungurrayi is the younger daughter of the late Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO and Emily Nakamarra. A proud Anmatyerre woman, Michelle grew up at Mt Allen and Napperby living “the bush way,” surrounded by the country and stories that would later shape her artistic voice. She now lives in Melbourne with her family.

Michelle comes from one of Australia’s most celebrated artistic lineages. Her father, Clifford Possum, is recognised internationally as a master of Western Desert art, with works held in major public and private collections worldwide. He famously presented his art to Queen Elizabeth II and is deeply represented in publications documenting the great Masters of Australian Art. Michelle’s older sister, Gabriella Possum, is also a highly sought-after painter whose works are collected across Australia and abroad.

Although Michelle began painting at a very young age under her father’s guidance, she has developed a distinctly individual style. While Clifford taught both his daughters technique and deep cultural knowledge, Michelle’s paintings stand apart through their bold colours, dramatic compositions and detailed depictions of her inherited Dreaming stories. Much of her work draws from the women’s ceremonial stories and Country of her paternal grandmother, Long Rose Nungala, combined with the strong, precise iconography learned from her father. Both Michelle and Gabriella collaborated with Clifford on significant family works, continuing the legacy of Papunya Tula traditions and their associated cultural narratives.

Michelle first exhibited alongside her father and sister in Brisbane in 1987, followed by a major showing at Cooee Gallery in Sydney in 1992. Since then, she has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally, building an impressive career and a loyal collector base. Her subjects include Goanna Dreaming, Bush Coconut, and a range of bush tucker themes, although she is most acclaimed for her powerful Grandmother’s Country series.

SELECTED SOLO & GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 2024 How We Paint – 8 Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2024 ICONIC, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2023 Vividly Bold, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2023 Possum Family, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2023 O Lounge Exhibition, Australian Open Tennis tournament, Melbourne
• 2022 Connection, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• 2020 Colours of Spring, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2020 Family Business – The Art of the Possum Family, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2020 The Continuing Legacy of Clifford Possum: Clifford, Gabriella, Michelle, Coo-ee Art Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 Generations II, Mitchelton Gallery of Aboriginal Art, Nagambie VIC
• 2019 International Women’s Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 Landscape Colours, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• 2016 From the Sand to the Sails | a Possum Family Exhibition
• 2015 Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi & Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• 2009 Michelle Possum, Australia Dreaming Art, Melbourne
• 2009 Generations, Aranda Art Gallery, Melbourne
• 2007 Shanghai Art Fair, China
• 2007 London Art Fair, UK
• 2007 Hong Kong Cricket Club
• 2006 Shanghai Art Fair, China
• 2006 Opening Exhibition, Aranda Art, Alice Springs
• 2006 Modern Masters from an Ancient Culture, Aranda Art Alice Springs
• 2006 Aboriginal and Oceanic Art Fair, Sydney
• 2005 Christmas Show, Australian Contemporary Aboriginal Art
• 2005 Aboriginal and Oceanic Art Fair, Sydney
• 1995 Desert Dreaming
• 1987 Possum Family Paintings, Brisbane
• 1982 Cooee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Sydney

HIGHLIGHTS & ACHIEVEMENTS
• 2022 Connection | Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples in a spectacular immersive experience, National Museum of Australia, Canberra

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
• Aranda Collection, Melbourne
• Knight Family Collection, Melbourne
• Pat Corrigan Collection, Brisbane

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, NSW (C)

In this work, Michelle Possum Nungurrayi paints the women’s ceremonial sites that surround Tjukurla and Yuelamu in the Western Desert—Country inherited from her Ancestral Grandmother, who travelled through this Anmatyerre landscape in the Dreamtime during Creation. These sites hold deep cultural significance. They are places where women gather to sing the songlines, perform ceremonial dances, apply body paint, and pass on sacred Dreaming stories to the next generations.

Throughout the painting, Michelle captures the features of her Grandmother’s Country: the shifting sandhills, freshwater soakages, dried salt pans and ancient rockholes carved into the bedrock—lifesaving water sources during long periods of drought. The landscape is dotted with desert vegetation including spinifex grass, wild bush wheat, honey flowers used for sugarbag (native bee honey), and underground bush foods such as sweet yams.

Each cluster of motifs—circles, pathways, tracks, and bursting floral forms—encodes specific knowledge, linking people, place, and ancestral narrative. The composition brings together multiple sites, stories and seasonal food sources, reflecting the interconnected nature of desert life.

Overall, the painting is a powerful amalgamation of past and present. It offers a layered, philosophical portrait of this Country—seen through the eyes of a custodian who continues her family’s artistic and cultural legacy. Through colour, movement and meticulous detail, Michelle preserves and celebrates the enduring spirit of her Grandmother’s Dreaming.