Justina Willis Australian, Yindjibarndi, b. 1981

Justina Willis was born in Leigh Creek in South Australia in 1981- "My dad was from Adelaide." She has two sisters, Melissa and Rebecca and now, a little sister, Juanita. The family moved from Adelaide to Broome andJustina attended primary school and high schoolthere. "I travelled between Broome and Roebourne a lot and then I came to live permanently in Roebourne, my mother's country, in about 1999, and have been here ever since. I starteddoing art late in 2006 aftervisiting my family at the Yinjaa-Barni Art Centre and watching thempainting. I started to do some sketching and the teacher saw what I was doing and gave mesome paint and canvas to paint what I had sketched. I started doing a TAFE short course inpaintingand design. I love painting. It gives me great pleasure to see the finished work."Justina has a style unlike any of her fellow artist friends and family. She meticulously plans herwork to achieve the effect and composition she desires, painting fine stroke anddot work overan abstract underbase of the rich colours that are prevalent in the Pilbara. She cares for detailand precision and her art has a quality that is extremely appealing. Justina experiments withcolour concepts and sometimes uses optical colour mixing to create a third dimension to herwork. She can work for hours, days and often weeks on one piece. Justina and her family liketo go out bush every weekend to spend time at places like Green Pool or Millstream. Thebush and the colours of the country provide the inspirationfor Justina's paintings. "I like to paint because I go out bush a lot and I can express the experience of going bush in my paintings."