Christine Nakamarra Curtis Australian, Walpiri, b. 1960

Christine Nakamarra Curtis was born in Alice Spring Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu,a remoteAboriginal community 290km north-west of Alice Springs.She was borninto a family of artists,whichinclude Kelly Napanangka Michaels, her mother, Roy JupurrurlaCurtis, her father and Alice NampijinpaHenwood Michaels,her Aunty.She is the eldest of 7 sisters and spent most of her childhood at Nyirripi,a remote Aboriginal community located 150km north-west of Yuendumu.Sheattended her local school,then Yirara College,an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs.Christine continued her studies at Kormilda College,an Aboriginal boarding college in Darwin.When she finished schooling she returnedtoNyirripi where she worked in the store."I love the place.Igrew up here-learning from the oldpeople."Christine began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation,anA boriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu,in 2007.Warlukurlangu Artists provides an outlet for Warlpiri artists to paint their cultural heritage and earn income fromtheir work. This service is extended to Nyirripi artists,on a weekly basis,by delivering canvasand paint to artists and picking up finishedartwork.Christine paints her grandparent's dreamingon her mother's side.Dreamings, which relate directly to her land,its features andthe plants and animals that inhabit it.These stories have been passed down for millennia."I like the patterns and all those colours,and the stories.Watching family painting, they show you the dreaming."Christine uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretationof hertraditional culture.Christine has two sons,Navarone and Mahela,who attend the local school in Nyirripi. When Christine is not painting she likes to take them hunting for bush tucker and goanna.