Selina Numina Kamprina
Selina Numina was born in 1978 and is an Anmatyerre artist from Ti Tree, 190km North of Alice Springs in Central Australia. She grew up on Stirling Station, a cattle station south of Tennant Creek along with her six sisters and three brothers, where she attended primary school and later moved to Darwin to attend school. Selina, and her family, now live in Darwin and often travel back to Ti Tree and Stirling Station in the north Utopia region near Tennant Creek.
Selina’s family come from a long line of desert artists of the contemporary Aboriginal art including world renowned aunties: Gloria and Kathleen Petyerre, who are well established artists. Many women from the Petyerre, Mambitji and Numina family name hold custody of the story and are knowledge keepers of stories such as Bush Medicine Leaves, Bush Tucker, Seeded, Soakage, Women's Ceremony etc – in common with other skin groups across the vast arid landscape and desert areas of central Australia. Knowing, carrying and reinforcing these stories gives respect for Country and ancestors and shows responsibility and care of holding such stories to keep the stories and traditional practices alive. The knowledge must be retold repeatedly and handed on.
The Numina Sisters have all been taught to paint by their earlier elder painter grandmothers, mother-aunties, and cousin-sisters connected across the Central Desert region. Their Mother’s and Grandmother’s Country is in the bush and remote Stirling Station and their Father is from Utopia.