HELEN CURTIS
Helen Curtis
Untitled
30 x 30cm. Acrylic on linen Canvas
ARTIST
Helen Curtis is a Pitjantjatjara woman from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in far north-west South Australia. Born in Alice Springs in 1973, her traditional country is Cave Hill, near Amata, a significant site connected to the Seven Sisters Tjukurpa (Dreaming).
Helen grew up between Cave Hill and Mutitjulu, near Uluru, where she worked as a guide with Aṉangu Tours, sharing knowledge of culture and bush foods with visitors. She now lives and paints in Nyapari Community with her mother, artist Angkaliya Curtis.
Her paintings reflect a deep connection to her Country and its ancestral stories, particularly the Seven Sisters songline, expressed through vivid depictions of desert landscapes, waterholes, and sacred sites.
APY
The Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands cover over 100,000 square kilometres of remote desert country in north-west South Australia. Home to the Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, the region was returned to traditional owners under the 1981 Land Rights Act.
Today, APY communities such as Nyapari, Amata and Ernabella are renowned for their vibrant art centres and strong cultural continuity. The landscape, marked by the Mann and Musgrave Ranges, remains central to Aṉangu identity, sustaining language, Tjukurpa (Dreaming Law) and a thriving contemporary Aboriginal art movement.