Melissa Butler

Melissa Butler is of the Ngaanyatjarra language group and is represented by Kaylili Artists, in the Gibson Desert.

The central inspiration for paintings from the Kayili artists at Patjarr is country and the intricate network of stories, “Tjukurrpa”, that feature in the landscape, and the journeys of the “Tingarri” men and women overlying vast areas of country connecting people to the north, south, east, and west. The local chapters in these huge stories occurred in places known intimately and owned thoroughly by the artists, who paint that country as a setting for the story that passes through it and which has left its mark upon it and resources for life in it. Artists often sign and sing while they paint, the art being a visual language to express the songs and travel maps, essential for the navigation and survival of nomadic people