Nellie Marks Nakamarra / Women’s Ceremony (NM667)

Nellie Marks Nakamarra was born on 10 January 1962 at Papunya in the Northern Territory. A Luritja artist from the Western Desert, she is the younger sister of renowned artist Elizabeth Marks Nakamarra and the stepdaughter of senior Papunya Tula artist Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula.

Nellie grew up surrounded by some of the most important artists of the Western Desert painting movement. She began developing her own painting practice at Kintore and was taught and encouraged by senior artists including Turkey Tolson, Old Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri and Uta Uta Tjangala. These artists played an important role in passing on the visual language, cultural knowledge and painting traditions that continue to inform her work.

Women’s Dreaming stories and knowledge of Country form the foundation of Nellie’s paintings. Her subjects include Women’s Ceremony, Women’s Tingari, Lightning Dreaming, rocky Country and Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa. Her paintings frequently explore culturally significant places, ceremony, journeys across Country and knowledge of water, bush foods and medicines passed from one generation to the next.

Kalipinypa, near Kintore, is an important water and storm site associated with rain and lightning and the replenishment of water across the desert. A deep rockhole at the site holds water below ground, and during dry periods it can become difficult to reach as the water level falls. Nellie’s paintings of Kalipinypa bring together water, Country, ceremony and the ancestral stories connected with this important place. Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa remains one of her most recognised and frequently painted subjects.

Nellie uses concentric circles, U-shaped forms, curved bands, pathways and repeated dotted lines to create an aerial view of Country. Depending upon the particular painting, these elements may represent important sites, waterholes, rocky places, women gathering, ceremonial designs and the bush foods and medicines found across the landscape.

Her compositions are often densely patterned but retain a strong sense of balance and order. Nellie connects one area of the canvas to another through repeated forms and pathways, creating paintings that can be read as cultural and topographical maps of Country.

Colour has become an especially distinctive part of Nellie’s practice. She combines desert ochres, browns and white with vivid reds, oranges, yellows, blues, turquoise, greens, pinks and purples. Her palettes vary considerably from painting to painting, with the colours carefully placed against dark grounds to give her work a lively contemporary energy while maintaining its connection to traditional Western Desert imagery.

Nellie’s paintings have developed a strong following among collectors and have been included in numerous exhibitions of Western Desert art throughout Australia and internationally. Her work is recognised for its confident use of colour, rhythmic dotting and the strength with which she brings together Country, ceremony and women’s cultural knowledge.

Selected Exhibitions

• 2024 – More Little Gems, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2023 – Dreamings: Aboriginal Art from Australia’s Central Desert, Amy Kaslow Gallery, Washington DC
• 2023 – Little Gems, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2022 – Minimalism in Aboriginal Art, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane
• 2022 – Small Works, Strong Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2021 – Sounds of Summer 2, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2019 – International Women’s Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 – Defining Tradition: The Colourists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 – Small is Beautiful, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2018 – Blue: Aboriginal Paintings, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2014 – Desert Song, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2012 – Desert Gold, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2010 – Stories from the Centre, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

In her paintings, Nellie Marks Nakamarra depicts Women’s Ceremony connected to her father’s Country at Kalipinypa, near Kintore. The works reflect women gathering at significant places, travelling across Country and maintaining the cultural knowledge, practices and responsibilities associated with ceremony. Kalipinypa is an important Water Dreaming and storm site associated with lightning, rain and the replenishment of rockholes, claypans and creeks. Nellie brings together Women’s Ceremony, Country and Tingari stories connected to this culturally significant place.

Concentric circles often represent important sites and places of ceremony, while lines extending between them may indicate pathways and movement across Country. Depending on the individual painting, other forms may relate to women gathering, waterholes, rocky outcrops, sandhills, bush foods, medicines and designs used during women’s ceremony. These elements also reflect the passing of cultural knowledge between generations and the continuing relationship between women and Country. The precise meaning of the imagery varies from painting to painting and remains connected to Nellie’s cultural knowledge.

Nellie creates rhythm and movement through repeated dots, flowing lines and clearly defined areas of colour. Her palettes vary from warm earth tones to brighter combinations, while the balance between detailed patterning and open space gives her work a distinctive sense of spaciousness. Through colour, form and traditional imagery, Nellie’s Women’s Ceremony paintings express the enduring connections between women, ceremony, ancestral knowledge and the Country of Kalipinypa.