Grandmother's country by Marie Napurulla, 68x108cm, Cat 14236MR

Grandmother's country by Marie Napurulla, 68x108cm

With her grandmother in mind, all of Marie's paintings recount the journeys her grandmother's family would travel using 2 camels to attend ceremonies between significant sites, represented by the concentric circles, along the Luritja road between Uluru and Kings Canyon passing through Areyonga, Jay Creek and finally arriving in Hermannsburg (Ntaria).

By painting this sacred land, she is bringing healing both to her grandmother's spirit and to herself.

Marie's great grandmother, Imbana, was a traditional bush woman who was born at Tempe Downs. Of the Luritja language group, her traditional country is Kings Canyon and around the Mereenie Loop. Her daughter, Marie's grandmother, was part of the stolen generation who was taken from her father at Jay Creek when she was only 9 years old. She was a bush child who didn't speak English.

Marie was born on 19 September 1967 in Waratah, NSW. She has moved back to Alice Springs to learn and teach her 7 children family traditions and customs that had been taken from her before she was born.