Marrapinti | 60h x 60w | RK707
Not framed or stretched | Acrylic on canvas
Esther Bruno Nangala is a Luritja/Pintupi woman and the granddaughter of Naata Nungurrayi, a legend of the desert art movement. Esther was born in Alice Springs in 1981 and brought up in Christmas Creek, near Fitzroy Crossing, and later in Kintore. Esther was schooled at Yirara College in Alice Springs where she was taught art and schooled in both Pintupi and English.
After returning to Kintore in 1999, Esther started to paint, receiving the benefit of a long apprenticeship under Naata and her skin sister, Nancy Ross Nungurrayi. At the same time, Esther was involved in important cultural initiatives such as the translation of some Pintupi song into English. Initially involved in some community collaboratives, She started to paint in her own right in 2009. And since that time, she has made huge leaps forward in the development of her own style and methodology for relating the stories around the important woman's site of Marrapinti.
Esther paints traditional designs associated with women's sites, ceremonies and the laws of her Country. Her works are vibrant and brightly coloured and often quite textured due to the large quantities of paint she applies to the canvas. The influence of her grandmother's work is evident in her paintings.