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BIOGRAPHY Nelli
Marks Nakamarra
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.
Nelli
Marks Nakamarra
is proud to
paint the world her culture and her dreaming and she entered into a number of
prestigious Art Awards.
Nelli was artist-in-residence at Flinders
University, Adelaide and featured in the landmark publication
"Dot and
Circle".
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.
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.
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.
Lightening
at Kalipimpa
Dreaming
The painting represents the journey of
ancestral Aboriginal women. When women travelled through Tanami Desert
(between Nirripi and Kiwikurra) suddenly sky turned dark and sand storm
whipped around them. The women can 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.
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. |
