EMILY ANDY NAPALTJARRI

Emily Andy Napaltjarri is an Aboriginal artist born in 1953 out bush near Papunya in the Northern Territory. She is the daughter of respected artist Entalura Nangala and the wife of Don Tjungurrayi, one of the early and renowned painters of the Western Desert movement. Raised within a strong cultural and artistic environment, Emily learned to paint from her mother and has since become a respected senior figure within her community.

 

As a custodian of important women’s Dreaming stories, Emily’s work carries deep cultural knowledge and responsibility. She paints designs associated with the Janmarda Tjukurrpa (Onion Dreaming), linked to the site of Karrinyarra (Central Mount Wedge), located north-west of Papunya. This site is characterised by a large salt lake and a sacred spring, both of which hold significant cultural meaning.

 

Emily’s paintings reflect both the physical and spiritual aspects of this landscape. Through intricate dotting combined with careful, deliberate linework, she maps the terrain and the movement of ancestral beings across Country. Her compositions often evoke the patterns of growth, gathering, and travel associated with the Onion Dreaming.

 

Her artistic practice is also informed by her family’s Dreamings. Her mother’s Dreaming relates to the Honey Ant Ancestors from Ilpili, west of Papunya, while her father’s Dreaming is connected to the Liru (Snake) Ancestors. These layered inheritances contribute to the depth and complexity of her work.

 

Emily Andy Napaltjarri has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally. Her work continues to be recognised for its cultural significance and refined technique, and in 2018 she was selected to feature in Outstation Gallery’s Rising Stars exhibition, highlighting her as an important voice within contemporary Aboriginal art.