BIOGRAPHY Nelli Marks Nakamarra

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Nelli Marks Nakamarra was born in 1976 and has learned the Dreamings  stories from her family ever since she was a small child. Nelli paints the dreaming of her father's and her grandfather's country which lies to the east of Kintore in the Northern Territory. The specific place of this dreaming cannot be given, as it is sacred to the artist.

The only dreaming she wishes to paint is the Turkey Dreaming. This dreaming has been handed down from generation to generation for many thousands of years. Turkey, her father began his artistic career at Papunya in the early 1970's, readily translating his iconography to board using acrylic paint. By the late 1970s he was a renowned painter who was regularly featured in national and international exhibitions.

Elizabeth (Nelli) Marks Nakamarra is proud to paint the world her culture and her dreaming and she entered into a number of prestigious Art Awards.

Elizabeth (Nelli) Marks Nakamarra was artist-in-residence at Flinders University, Adelaide and featured in the landmark publication "Dot and Circle".

COLLECTIONS:
National Library of Australia Art collection
Australian Aboriginal Media Association collection, Alice Sprigs, NT
Tasmanian Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art
Homes a Court Collection, Perth
Richard Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA
Art Bank, Sydney
Noosa Regional Gallery and many private collectors in Australia and slowly around the world.

Nelli was also taught to by Old Mick Namarrari, Uta Uta, Pinta Pinta and the great master her father Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula. Nelli Marks Nakamarra learned family stories since she was a small child she was taught by a number of famous artists including Old Mick Namarrari, Uta Uta, Pinta Pinta and  her father and a great master Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula (now deceased).

Nelli is a respected member of her people and follows a traditional lifestyle. She takes part in women's ceremonies and women's painting when she is in her country. Nelli is very confident and proud about her traditional ways of life. She paints with harmony and this is manifested by a seemingly effortless skill and an apparently natural sense of peace and charm; qualities which reflect her persona and acclaim the spirit of her people. Nelli Marks Nakamarra has been painting for Michael Hollow Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery, in Alice Springs, in Melbourne and also in Sydney.

Aboriginal paintings are based on myths of the Dreamtime. In modern dot representation, the sacred aspect of the painting is not always revealed, but the meaning remains, transmitted through symbols which are easily understood. Each person has particular Dreaming to which they belong and they have special ceremonial dances and songs that combine together to form a unique religion that makes up the lives of the Aboriginal people. All things related to the land and thus the land is of great importance to them. The land is the keeper of the Dreaming and must be kept safe for all time so that the Dreaming stories, which are told in the paintings, can be preserved. Ceremonies always involve song, dance and body decoration, The ownership, management and performance is dependent upon knowledge and status. While many ceremonies are open or public, many are secret to varying degrees. The categories of people who can be present are restricted; groups such as women, girls and uninitiated men and strangers would all have limitations placed on them in relation to men's ceremonies; men, boys and uninitiated girls would have similar restrictions placed on them in relation to women's ceremonies.

Source & FURTHER REFERENCES:
"Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert - A Biographical Dictionary" by Vivien Johnson, published by Craftsman House 1994, "The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture" edited by Sylvia Kleinert and Margo Neale published by OUP 2000, “Australian Aboriginal Artist Encyclopedia” – dictionary of biographies” Kreczmanski, Janusz B & Birnberg, Margo (eds.): Aboriginal Artists: Dictionary of Biographies: Central Desert, Western Desert & Kimberley Region (JB Publishing Australia, Marleston, 2004). Brody, A. 1989 Utopia women’s Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A summer Project, 1988-89 exhib. Cat. Heytesbury Holdings, Perth Brody, A. 1990 Utopia, a picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Homes a Court Gallery and gallery Collection, Heytesbury Holdings LTD Perth NATSIVAD database;  Latz, P. 1995, Bushfires & Bushtucker, IAD Press, Alice Springs.

Lightening in the Sky - Kalipimpa Dreaming

The painting depicts the journey of ancestral Aboriginal women. Women travelled through Tanami Desert (between Nirripi and Kiwikurra) and suddenly sky turned dark and sand storm whipped around them. The women could barely open their eyes with the force of the wind blowing sand when forks of lightening lit up the sky. Women were fearful of the deafening sharp cracks in the sky and severe dry air burning their skin so they were asking the spirits to find them a refuge.

The shelter became suddenly visible women stumble on the grotto close by around the rocky mountain range. This painting represents the Lightening in the Sky.

This story is associated with this region and it has a number of sacred sites where ceremonies are performed to honor the travel of their ancestral women.

At present Aboriginal people still remember the story of their Dreamtime ancestors and acknowledge it at the special ceremonies. In the Aboriginal myths, ancestral spirits created the land and set the example to humans how to live, it all happened during the Dreamtime creation era.

Acrylic on Belgian linen

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Lightening and Sand Storm Kalipimpa Dreaming

The painting represents the whole journey of ancestral Aboriginal women. Women travelled through Tanami Desert (between Nirripi and Kiwikurra) and suddenly sky turned dark and sand storm whipped around them. The women could barely open their eyes with the force of the wind blowing sand when forks of lightening lit up the sky. Women were fearful of the deafening sharp cracks in the sky and severe dry air burning their skin so they were asking the spirits to find them a refuge.

The shelter became suddenly visible women stumble on the grotto close by around the rocky mountain range.

This story is associated with this region and it has a number of sacred sites where ceremonies are performed to honor the travel of their ancestral women.

At present Aboriginal people still remember the story of their Dreamtime ancestors and acknowledge it at the special ceremonies. In the Aboriginal myths, ancestral spirits created the land and set the example to humans how to live, it all happened during the Dreamtime creation era.