The Lasseters Collection - Lasseters Hotel Casino

The Lasseters Collection 

Unique, original artwork from Central Australian Aboriginal Artists 

lhc.com.au

Introduction 

Lasseters Hotel Casino and the Alice Springs Convention Centre would like 

to introduce The Lasseters Collection. 

The Lasseters Collection was designed to complement our environment 

and surrounding landscape, this was done by incorporating Indigenous 

traditions and culture in each room through art. 

We enlisted the skills of Ngurratjuta / Many Hands Arts & Gifts to engage 

Central Australian artists based on Fair Trade principles, over a 6 month 

curatorial period. The selection of artists is representative of the variety of 

styles from the region. 

The artists have shared their stories of country and an ancient culture, 

surviving this land for over 40,000 years. Each room tells a different story 

of local traditions and dreaming. 

The Lasseters Collection features more than 80 pieces of original artwork 

that reflect the surrounding landscape and will no doubt offer you a richer 

experience during your stay. 

This booklet showcases the artists, their profiles, the story behind each 

creation and the corresponding room or suite number they are housed in... 

So you can choose your room by your favourite artwork! 

Smaller pieces of artwork by our featured artists are available for purchase 

from our Hotel Reception, or visit Ngurratjuta / Many Hands Arts & Gifts at: 

Alice Springs Desert Park 

Larapinta Drive 

Alice Springs 

www.nguart.com.au 

2 | THE LASSETERS COLLECTION

The Lasseters Collection 

Artist A-Z 

Angelo Burgoyne 

Skin name: Judda 

Year of birth: 1970 

Language: Pitjantjatjara 

Place of birth: Cummins, SA 

Angelo belongs to the Kookatha/Mirning group and his main language is Pitjantjatjara. Angelo is an 

emerging artist now living in Alice Springs. His paintings combine visual effects with his Aboriginal 

vision of the land. 

Room 5320 Title: Rain in the Desert 

This painting is a vision of the land in the background with cloud formations passing over the 

country and delivering rain. Waterholes created by rain are represented by the concentric circles. 

The wavy lines connecting the waterholes represent the songline or itinerary of the ancestral 

beings that created the land. 

THE LASSETERS COLLECTION | 3

Cindy Pwerle Morton 


Language: Alyawarre 

Place of birth: Utopia Station 

Cindy is an artist who has emerged from Utopia. She comes from a family of distinguished artists; her 

mother is Gracie Morton Pwerle, her aunt is Kathleen Petyarre and her great-aunt is Gloria Petyarre. 

Cindy has developed her art alongside her mother and family but is finding her own unique style of 

painting. 

Room 5219 Title: Kangaroo Tracks 

Cindy has painted sand torn by multiple Kangaroo tracks. She also depicts the topographical landscape 

and bush seeds from her country. 

Room 5206 Title: Bush Plum 

The Bush Plum is found throughout the Utopia region. It fruits in the summer after rain and is an 

important food source. When young, the fruit is green in appearance but as it matures it becomes a 

purple-black colour, similar to an olive. The plant can grow up to three metres high, has blue green 

leaves and it produces a creamy white flower. In the Dreamtime winds blew from all directions 

carrying the Bush Plum seeds to Cindy’s ancestral lands. 


Damian & Yilpi Marks 

Damian 


Language: Lurtija 

Place of birth: Haasts Bluff, NT 

Yilpi 


Language: Pitjantjarra 

Place of birth: Ernabella 

After living in Haasts Bluff, Damian moved to Papunya with his family. His mentors were Clifford 

Possum, Billy Stockman and Uta Uta Jangala who told him Dreamtime stories. Yilpi, Damian’s wife, 

was taught the Dreamtime stories by her parents and grandparents. Her mother’s name is Tjulkiwa 

Atira-Atira and her father’s, Michael Atira-Atira (deceased). Both parents are very talented artists 

and some of their artworks are held by the State Gallery of South Australia and the National Gallery 

of Australia. 

Room 5214 

This Dreamtime story is told by Damian’s family. Nintaka (Big Goanna) takes place west of Mount Liebig, 

in the Northern Territory. During the Dreamtime, Nintaka was travelling through the land, the valleys, 

hills and mountain ranges. 

Room 5221 

Yilpi Marks has painted her country around Ernabella in South Australia. 


Deborah Nakamara Yungut 

Skin name: Nakamara 


Language: Luritja, Pintupi 

Room 5111 Title: Rain in the Desert 

Deborah uses striking bold lines, which depict women’s sacred sites and refer to her extended 

knowledge of sacred places. At these special spiritual sites, the women use the area for sacred women’s 

business and also to teach the young women their Dreamtime stories. 

Dominic Jungala Gibbs 

Skin name: Jungala 

Language: Pintubi 

Dominic has many famous artists in his family including Willy Tjungurrayi and Yala Yala Gibbs 

Tjungurrayi, who were brought up in the bush and had their first sighting of white people when 

they were brought to Haasts Bluff in the late 1950s. 

Room 5107 Title: Hail Storm Dreaming 

Dominic painted the Hail Storm Dreaming, taking place east of Kintore. He depicted the hail by 

rows of dots across the canvas. As the Central Desert is so dry, hail is a rare occurrence and is 

considered quite special when it does happen. 


Doreen Dickson 

Skin name: Nakamarra 


Language: Warlpiri 

Place of birth: Willowra 

Doreen began as a teacher’s assistant at Wilara before spending some years in Darwin and then 

moving to Alice Springs in 2004. She has painted her Dreaming for many years and enjoys painting 

stories from the old times. Her work has been exhibited at Art Mob in Hobart in 2008 and at the 

Desert Mob Exhibition in the Araluen Galleries in Alice Springs. 

Doreen has painted Aboriginal icons, which symbolise Warlpiri Aboriginal women while performing a 

traditional ceremony. The ceremony is taking place in Doreen’s country - Willowra. 

Room 5123 Title: Ngurlu – Grass Seeds 

Ngurlu or grass seeds were an important component of Aboriginal diet before colonisation. This 

grass produces small black seeds that women grind to make flour. After mixing the flour with water, 

the paste can be baked in a fire to make damper or bread. Ngurlu is one of Nakamarra’s totem or 

Dreaming. 

Room 5204 Title: Women’s Ceremony 


Room 5114 Title: Early Days 

Doreen has painted the water courses and travels of the early tribes in a subtle and delicate style. 


Emma Daniel 

Skin name: Nungarayi 

Year of birth: cc1935 


Emma lived at Papunya for many years. She is a well respected elder holding much traditional 

knowledge, not only in story form, but also song and dance. Emma also lived at Mt. Doreen near 

Yuendumu for many years with her brother, Don Tjungerrayi and is one of the traditional owners 

of Karrinyarra, Mount Wedge. Emma now lives in Alice Springs. Over the past two years Emma’s 

paintings have gained attention for her bold motifs and strong colours, indicative of the Papunya 

area. Emma is also sister to renowned artist Paddy Carroll (now deceased). 

Room 5109 Title: Mt. Wedge - Karrinyarra, NT 

The Yalke (Bush Onion) storyline goes through Karrinyarra (Mt. Wedge), Yuendumu and Mt. Doreen. 

The ceremonial dancing women feature strongly in Emma’s painting. She uses the brush with long 

flowing brush strokes, the way the women do when they paint their bodies. The roundels depict the 

rockholes around the lake at Karrinyarra. 

Felicity Robertson Nampinjimpa 

Skin name: Nampinjimpa 


Place of birth: Yuendumu 


Felicity is the daughter of the artist Shorty Jangala Robertson and paints creation stories that 

relate to her traditional land. Felicity attended a local school and then studied at Batchelor College 

where she attained an Assistant Teacher Diploma. Since then Felicity has worked intermittently at 

Yuendumu School. 

As a Nampinjimpa woman, Felicity has custodial rights to paint the Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) 

story at Puyurru, a site west of Yuendumu where her father Shorty Jangala is an important traditional 

owner. The rain, Ngapa, gives the land patterns and colours that Felicity translates into her work 

through fresh and vigorous colours. 

Room 5210 Title: Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) 




Gavin Arabie 


Place of birth: Alice Springs 

Languages: Arrernte / Luritja 

Gavin is a Central Arrernte man who was born in Alice Springs. He still lives in Alice with his two 

young children and wife, Samantha Napaltjarri who is also a promising artist from Docker River. 

Room 5205 Title: Yeperenye Dreaming 

The Yeperenye’s (caterpillars) are travelling around Alice Springs eating all the bush tucker. The 

Yeperenye Dreaming is very significant to the Arrernte Nation and can be seen in the form of the 

MacDonnell Ranges. 

Room 5105 Title: The Tingari Cycle 

Thomas’ work explores the stories of the Tingari cycle. These ancestors from the Dreamtime 

travelled the land to create landforms, teach the law, perform rituals and set up ceremonial 

grounds. The meaning behind Tingari stories, carrying multilayered meanings is not to be revealed 

to non-initiated people. 


Glenda Napanangka Martin 

Skin name: Napanangka 




Glenda is the granddaughter of internationally acclaimed artist Shorty Jangala. Glenda inherited her 

Grandpa’s style and Water Dreaming in Puyuru. Glenda now lives in Alice Springs with her children. 

Room 5112 Title: Jukurrpa Dreaming 

In this contemporary Warlpiri painting, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, 

associated sites and other elements. The white dots represent the rain. The straight lines represent 

the ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters) running through the landscape, and the small circles represent ‘mulju’ 

(water soakages). 

Room 5207 Title: The Rain Making Story 

Glenda painted the Rain Making story of Shorty Jangala Robertson. In the usually dry creek beds are 

water soakage or naturally occurring wells. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a 

giant storm. It travelled across the country, with the lightning striking the land. 

Room 5223 Title: The Rain Making Story 


Gloria Petyarre 

Skin name: Temarre 

Year of birth:1945 


Place of birth: Atnangkere Soakage 

Gloria is from the Anmatyerre community, in the Utopia region, 250kms northeast of Alice Springs 

and is a significant person in contemporary Indigenous Australian art. Gloria won Australia’s longest 

running art prize, the Wynne Prize in 1999 with Leaves, making her the first Aboriginal person to win 

one of the Art Gallery of New South Wales major prizes. Gloria lived at the Utopia community from 1977 

where she started batik painting, exhibiting in shows around Australia for ten years. She began work on 

the ‘Summer Project’ in 1989 which involved translating the batik paintings onto canvas. 

Gloria has painted here in her famous abstract style. At the end of summer, the bush leaves depicted 

were collected by women and soaked to make tea to provide a highly sought-after bush medicine. 

Room 5208 Title: The Bush Medicine Leaves Dreaming 





Gracie Morton Pwerle 

Skin name: Pwerle 




Gracie is the daughter of Myrtle Petyarre, one of Gloria and Kathleen Petyarre’s sisters. She comes 

from Mosquito Bore in the Utopia region. Although it is a small community, it is home to many famous 

artists including Gloria Petyarre, Ronnie Price Mpetyarre, Louis Pwerle and Rita Ngale. Gracie 

combines complex fine dot patterns to depict the contours and colours of the land as well as the walking 

tracks used by women to collect the Bush Plum. In accordance with traditional law the responsibility for 

the Bush Plum Dreaming has been passed down to Gracie from her father and her aunt. 

Room 5306 Title: Bush Medicine Leaves 

Gracie depicts the Bush Medicine Leaves Dreaming in this work. At the end of summer, leaves from different 

Bush Medicine Plants were collected by women and soaked and boiled. The tea provided a highly soughtafter 

bush medicine. 





Jorna Newberry 


Language: Pitjantjatjara 

Place of birth: Angus Downs 

Jorna Newberry is a Pitjantjatjara artist who was born around 1959 east of Uluru. At Irrunytju 

(Wangelina) by the three-states corner (WA/SA/NT) she watched her uncle painting, the great Tommy 

Watson, and progressively developed her own abstract style around the main Dreamings evoking her 

country. 

The Wind Dreaming comes from her mother’s country called Utantja. Through a vibrant palette, 

entangled circles and lines, Jorna describes the ceremonies dedicated to the wind performed in this 

country. Thanks to these ceremonies, fresh winds will pick up, creating air to cool the land. 

Room 5322 Title: Walpa Tjukurrpa 

Room 5318 Title: Walpa Tjukurrpa 

Joylene Reid Napangardi 

Language: Pintupi 

Year of birth 1971 

Place of birth: Tjukurla – WA 

Joylene paints the stories associated with Women’s Dreaming at sites in the Western Desert. These stories 

are about the Tingari ancestor’s long journey over the vast stretches of land performing rituals and creating 

particular sites. 

Room 5105 Title: Nyirripi (Waite Creek) 


Kevin Namatjira 

Skin name: Jungarrayi 


Language: Western Arrente 

Place of birth: Hermannsburg 

Kevin Namatjira is the grandson of Albert Namatjira, and is the son of Maurice and Epana. Kevin and 

his six siblings (Lorraine, Jennifer, Wilfred, Evelyn, Elaine and Susan) were raised at Hermannsburg. 

Kevin’s father Maurice taught him how to paint. Kevin and his family live in Alice Springs and have been 

living at the Namatjira Camp for many years. 

Room 5309 Title: South of James Ranges 

Kevin Wirri 

Skin name: Tjapaltjarri 


Language: Luritja / Pintupi 

Place of birth: Haasts Bluff 

Kevin was born and raised at Haasts Bluff with his father Kata Wirri and mother Freda Nangala. 

Kevin went to school in Papunya and Areyonga. When he grew up he worked at Haast’s Bluff. In 1974 

he married Doris Abbott and came to live in Alice Springs. He started working with the Tangentyere 

Council and in 1995 was elected to the Tangentyere Executive. He is a member of the 4 Corners 

Council, a group of traditional law men who make rules for Aboriginal people in the Central Australian 

region. 

Room 5116 Title: Gosse Bluff - Tnorala, NT 


Kim Butler 

Skin name: Naparrula 


Language: Pitjantjatjara / Luritja 

Room 5116 Title: My Country 

Here, Kim has painted her country, representing the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) of the Pintupi people. 

Lily Kelly Napangardi 


Language: Luritja 


Lily used to live with her family at Papunya. She moved to Watiyawanu (Mt. Liebig) where she is a 

senior law woman with her husband Norman Kelly, also an artist. Lily is a respected elder in her 

community and the custodial owner of the Women’s Dreaming of Kunajarrayi. Lily was finalist in the 

Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 2003 and was welcomed by the 

Queen at Buckingham Palace. 

Lily painted the sand hills (Tali) of her country (Mt. Liebig). These paintings give a three-dimensional 

illusion of space and depth. 

Room 5110 Title: Tali (Sand Hills) 




Linda Syddick Napaltjarri 

Skin name: Napaltjarri 


Place of birth: Lake MacKay, WA 

Language: Pintubi 

Linda was raised by the famous Western Desert painter, Shorty Lungkarta Tjungarrayi. She grew 

up with a traditional, nomadic lifestyle walking the Pintupi homelands with her family and gained 

an intimate knowledge of the land. Linda developed her painting under the guidance of some of the 

greatest masters; Shorty, Nosepeg Tjupurrula, and Uta Uta Tjangala. 

Room 5316 Title: Tingari Men at Walukuritje 

Tingari Men At Walukuritje is a Dreamtime story about the rockhole. In Dreamtime at the creation 

period the spirits (Tingari Men), made rain come down, filling the dry rockhole with fresh water. The 

ancestral spirit beings (Emu Men), drank some water and were happy. 

Room 5218 Title: Tingari Men 

In the Dreamtime at the creation period, the spirits (Tingari Men) caused rain to come down, filling 

the dry rockhole with fresh water. The ancestral spirit beings (Emu Men) drank some water and were 

happy. 

Room 5315 Title: Walking over Sand Hills 

In 1945 at the age of eight, Linda walked out of the desert with her family through the vast network 

of sand dunes surrounding her native country south of Lake MacKay. They headed east to Haasts 

Bluff, a Lutheran mission, situated east of Pintubi country. They had been encouraged to this by 

the ‘king’ of the Pintubi people, Nosepeg Tjupurrula, and Linda’s stepfather Shorty Lungkarta (Blue 

Tongue Lizard). Both of these men had knowledge of the ‘white-fella’ world. The first obstacle they 

encountered were the high sand hills, which run in a north-south direction and are covered in grass, 

bushes and trees. 


Room 5109 Title: Water Comes to Walukuritje Rock Hole 

Linda shows the resting places of the creative spirits, the Tingari men, on their journey across the 

Gibson Desert, which is the home of the Pintubi people. Linda is an important traditional owner for 

this place. 

Lisa Cubillo Napanangka 


Language: Walpiri 


Lisa has a geographically varied background. Her mother is from the Maluk-Maluk country near Daly 

River and her father is from the Larrakia Country, which includes the area in and around Darwin. Her 

husband is an Arrernte / Walpiri. 

Room 5314 Title: Clash of Cultures 

This is a striking painting where the circles represent issues that can’t be solved, the flat lines 

represent war between two cultures, and the wavy lines symbolise the negativity between these 

cultures. 


Lynette Corby Nungarrayi 

Skin name: Nungarrayi 

Year of birth: cc1958 

Region: Mount Leibig - Alice Springs 

Language: Walpiri 

Lynette Corby Nungarrayi lived in Papunya before moving to Mt. Liebig in the 1980’s. She worked for a 

decade at Watiyawanu Community at Mt. Liebig specialising in Luritja (written and spoken language). 

Lynette’s paintings are sought after and her work has been in several exhibitions. 

In this work, Lynette reconnects with her country, South West of Papunya, which is 250km from Alice 

Springs. There are vast sand hills going across the land and Lynette is looking at them from a birds 

eye view, flying high over the ‘Tali’. 



Room 5209 Title: Mangari (Bush Tucker) 

This story is about ‘Mangari’; the various food sources that one can find next to Papunya. The wavy 

lines represent the sand hills surrounding Lynette’s country and the concentric circles depict the 

soakages and waterholes around which Aboriginal nomadic life was organised. The women sitting by 

the soakages are educating young girls about the many hidden resources of this country. 


Mari Napurulla 

Skin name: Napurulla 

Region: Alice Springs 


Mari was born in NSW in 1968, and is the descendant of Stolen Generation from Central Australia. She 

became determined to explore her Aboriginal background/ancestry several years ago, which brought 

Mari and her family back to Central Australia. She made connections with relations and kin in the 

region, and gained more familiarity with her grandmother’s story, which has inspired her. 

She is now residing in Alice Springs with her family of seven children, and partner, who is also a 

contemporary Indigenous artist. 

In her work series “Grandmother’s Journey” Mari depicts Aboriginal iconography of the physical and 

spiritual journey of her Indigenous Grandmother. Mari imagined the tracks and stopping points her 

Grandmother must have made as she crossed the hot and arid landscape time after time between the 

cattle station and the Lutheran mission. 

Room 5309 Title: Grandmother’s Journey 

Room 5305 Title: Grandmother’s Journey 


Margaret Scobie 

Skin name: Pengarte 


Language: Anmatyerre 

Place of birth: Woolla Downs 

Margaret is a senior and well-respected woman in the Utopia community. There is a rich artistic 

tradition that runs in Margaret’s family. She is related to Gloria Petyarre - her first cousin, and 

to Emily Kngwarreye - her aunt. Both of these artists have achieved national and international 

recognition. 

Margaret paints with an abundance of moving brush-strokes that give the illusion of vibrant moving 

leaves of the Bush Medicine plant, which grows in the desert. Margaret uses an array of colours and 

the different colours represent the leaves at different times of the year. 








Mary Dixon Nungarrayi 




Place of birth: Town Bore Creek 

Born east of Papunya, Mary Dixon commenced painting in the mid-1980’s. She and her former 

husband, Colin Dixon Tjapanangka, often collaborated on paintings. Mary Dixon and Goodwin 

Kingsley Tjapaltjarri (now deceased) lived and produced art in Alice Springs. The characteristic 

trademark of her paintings is lyrical, pure drawing and bright primary colours. 

These works refer to the initiation ceremonies that every Aboriginal man has to go through around 

puberty. Mary is depicting the hair belt that swirls in a hypnotic way around women’s waists when 

they are dancing at the very beginning of the initiation ceremonies. 

Room 5308 Title: The Initiation Ceremonies 

Room 5302 Title: The Initiation Ceremonies 


Maureen Hudson Nampijinpa 

Skin name: Nampijinpa 


Place of birth: Mt. Allan 

Maureen is a well known artist and has a long history of painting. Most of Maureen’s family are 

artists including her sister Jean Hudson, and cousin Clifford Possum. She learned to paint by 

looking at the body designs and ground painting in women’s ceremonies. While Maureen used to 

be a teacher aid at Mt. Allan, she now says: “It’s great to be an artist, now my life is to be an artist.” 

Maureen has three children and eight grandchildren who she teaches to paint. 

Room 5122 Title: Sand Dunes at Warlukurlangu 

Maureen painted the movement of sand dunes at Warlukurlaongu (Fire Country - a story from her 

father’s side), which constantly change the desert landscape in Maureen’s homeland of Mt. Allan. 

She painted this artwork while sitting under a Humpy (handmade tree shade) out bush. “It is nice 

and quiet there” she says. 

Room 5211 Title: Mt. Allan 

Here Maureen has painted her country, which is Mt Allan. This painting depicts the small rock 

holes and striking sand dunes from the area of her birthplace. 

Room 5216 Title: Warlukalongu (Fire Country) 

This colourful painting depicts the ceremonial place for the Nampijinpa and Napaltjarri women. The 

squares represent the Warlukurlangu (Fire Country). 


Mervyn Rubuntja 

Skin name: Japanangka 


Language: Western Arrernte 

Place of birth: Telegraph Station, Alice Springs 

Mervyn’s mother, Cynthia (Kamara) was a Western Arrernte woman. His father was the famous 

painter, the late Winton Rubuntja Pengarte. His father has been an important role model for Mervyn. 

He was a senior law man and and a respected member of his community. He fought for Aboriginal 

rights and protection of the land and worked alongside the Central Land Council and assisted in the 

Marbo agreement. (See his biography ‘The Town Grew Up Dancing’, IAD Press). Mervyn is following in 

his father’s footsteps and painting his watercolours in the way his father taught him. 

Room 5311 Title: MacDonnell Ranges, NT 

Michael Nelson Jakamarra 

Skin name: Jakamarra 



Place of birth: Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs), west of Yuendumu 

Michael’s first contact with white people happened at Mt. Doreen Station when he was about eight 

years old and resulted in him hiding in fear. His family then settled at Yuendumu where Michael was 

educated at the mission. In 1976 he moved to Papunya, his wife’s country and was mentored by some 

of the earlier Papunya artists. In 1987, after he won the National Aboriginal Art Award, an 8.2 m long 

painting by Michael was installed in the foyer of the Sydney Opera House. He was introduced to Queen 

Elizabeth II in 1988 at the opening of the New Parliament House as the designer of the mosaic in the 

forecourt of the building. 

Room 5108 Title: Mt. Allan 

This is an Aboriginal iconographic representation of lightning strikes used during some water 

ceremonies. This Jukurrpa or Dreaming belongs to the Jakamarra and the Jupurrula sections. 


Myrtle Petyarre 


Language: Anmatyerre 


Myrtle’s country is Atnangkere. She is sister to Kathleen, Gloria, Ada Bird, Nancy, Violet and Jean 

Petyarre from the Utopia region. Myrtle was involved with the Utopia Women’s Batik group since its 

inception in the early 70’s and started painting acrylics in 1988 with CAAMA’s Summer Project. 

Room 5120 Title: Awelye (Body Painting) 

Here, Myrtle depicts sacred ceremonial sites. The story behind this piece is Myrtle’s Dreaming: 

Arnkerrthe (Mountain Devil Lizard). The ladies paint their breast, shoulders and neck for traditional 

ceremonies, which include song and dance and are conducted by the elder women of the group. 

Narpula Scobie Napurrula 

Year of birth: 1950 (approx) 



Narpula Scobie started painting for the Papunya Tula Artists in the early 1980’s and was one of the 

first women in Walungurru to do so. Narpula hails from family of renowned artists. She was married 

to Johnny Scobie Tjapanangka [deceased], a famous Pintubi artist, and is a sister to Mitjili Napurrula. 

Narpula’s art is forever evolving as she constantly finds new ways of depicting the traditional stories 

of her Dreamings. 


This work depicts women (the U shapes symbols) at rockhole sites. Before the ceremony starts the 

women paint their upper body using earthy ochres to create body paint designs. The women sing and 

dance during the ceremony. 


Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri 





Ngoia Pollard’s home is in the swamps west of Nyirripi. She married Jack Tjampitjinpa, who became 

an artist working with the Papunya Tula company, and they have five children. She attended school 

at Papunya, and worked at the mission kitchen there. Ngoia won a major regional art prize in 2004 

and then went on to win the painting prize in the 2006 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art 

Awards. Her works are held in major private and public collections, including the National Gallery of 

Australia. 

The oval shapes in Ngoia’s paintings are iconographic representations of the swamps and lakes 

of Ngoia’s birth place Nyrripi, which is close to Mt. Liebig. Ngoia’s paintings pay reference to the 

different seasonal characteristics of her country. These swamps are protected by the spiritual 

presence of the water snake, which lives beneath the surface. 




Rachel Jurra Napaltjarri 





Warlpiri artist Rachel Jurra Napaltjarri commenced painting in 1985. Her cousin, Eunice Napangardi 

(deceased) who was a highly respected artist, taught her to paint her Dreamings. Rachel currently 

lives and paints in Alice Springs. 

Room 5323 Title: The Two Caves Story 

Rosie Stafford 

Skin name: Nakamarra 


Place of birth: Mt. Allen 

Language: Anmatyerr 

Rosie’s signatory red and white Snake Dreaming paintings are very popular; the geometric based 

designs create a stunning illusion of movement. The Dreaming has been passed on to Rosie by her 

grandmother Lilly Stafford. Rosie in turn will pass it on. 

Room 5101 Title: Wananpi (The Rainbow Snake) 

Wananpi (the Rainbow Snake) is an important myth closely linked to the land, water, social 

relationship and fertility. Rosie depicts the network of waterholes in her country, which were created 

by Wananpi. 


Room 5118 Title: Snake Dreaming 

The Dreaming depicted here comes from Coniston Station where “Old Man Snake” is protecting the 

waterhole. No swimming is allowed at the water hole. 

Room 5106 Title: Rockholes 

This painting shows many sacred rockholes and waterholes that lie along the Lander River on 

Coniston Station, north west of Alice Springs, in Anmatyere Country. Rosie depicts the network 

of waterholes in her country, which were created by Wananpi. Nowadays, lying underneath the 

waterholes as a guardian, the serpent ensures the continued existence of water. 

Room 5118 Title: Wananpi [The Rainbow Snake) 

Rosie depicts the network of waterholes in her country that were created by Wananpi. 

Room 5201 Title: Snake Dreaming 

Rosie’s signatory Snake Dreaming paintings are very striking with the geometric-based design 

creating a stunning illusion of movement. 


Rowena Peipei 

Skin name: Pitjantjatjara 


Rowena comes from the Great Victoria Desert region, southwest of Alice Springs and started painting 

under the guidance of her mother. Her paintings represent stories associated with women’s business 

and design elements associated with her country. 

Room 5103 Title: My Country 

Rowena painted her country, women conducting ceremonies and collecting bush foods. 

Samantha Daniels Napaljarri 

Skin name: Napaljarri 



Language: Pitjantjatjara / Luritja 

Samantha is a young and promising artist who grew up in Kaltakatjarra (Docker River), 250 km west 

of Uluru. She is granddaughter of Linda Syddick Napaltjarri, a Pintupi and Pitjantjatjara speaking 

Indigenous artist from the Western Desert region. Samantha now lives in Alice Springs with her 

husband and two young children. 

Room 5301 Title: Lake MacKay 

This story is about Mangari or bush food that Aboriginal women gather from the Lake MacKay area. 

The ‘U’ shapes represent ladies singing to the land for food sources to be plentiful. This ceremony 

comes prior to young men’s initiations that are symbolised by the upper and lower lines linking 

concentric circles called Tingari. 


In these works, Samantha is depicting her grandmother’s country, Lake MacKay from a bird’s eye 

view. The Dreamtime story refers to Aboriginal women digging for bush potatoes and educating 

children, which are represented by the ‘U’ shapes throughout the painting. 

Room 5310 Title: Lake MacKay 

Room 5103 Title: Lake Mackay 

Room 5117 Title: My Grandmother’s Country 

These panel paintings depict Samantha’s grandmother’s land south of Lake MacKay. The women here 

are collecting and cooking bush food around the lake and also shows spears and fire. 


Tanya Corby 




In these simple and powerful works, Tanya refers to the young men’s initiation ceremonies that were 

carried out by ancestral beings called ‘Tingari’. Women dance at the start of this ceremony but have 

to leave the ceremonial ground for initiated men who perform secret songs and dances. 

Room 5104 Title: Kunatjarra - Desert Country 

Room 5303 Title: The Tingari Men 


Thomas Tjapaltjarri 


Language: Marua, east of Kiwirrkurra, Gibson Desert, WA 

Place of Birth: Pintupi 

In 1984, Thomas made international headlines when his family, known in the media as ‘The Lost 

Tribe’ or ‘Pintupi Nine’, walked out of the wilderness 700 km west of Alice Springs and made contact 

with the outside world for the very first time. Until then, Thomas lived the traditional and nomadic 

life of a hunter-gatherer. 

Thomas’ work explores the stories of the Tingari cycle. These ancestors from the Dreamtime 

travelled the land to create landforms, teach the law, perform rituals and set up ceremonial grounds. 

The meaning behind Tingari stories, carrying multilayered meanings is not to be revealed to noninitiated 

people. 




Thomas Tjapaltjarri & 

Selina Bob Napaltjarri 

Room 5317 

Thomas painted this work with the help of Selina Bob - Linda Syddick Napaltjarri’s grandaughter 

from Wilara, who is allowed by Aboriginal law to tell the story of the Tingari men. These ancestors 

from the Dreamtime travelled the land to create landforms, teach the law, perform rituals and set up 

ceremonial grounds. The meaning behind Tingari stories, carrying multi-layered meanings is not to 

be revealed to non-initiated people. 


Vanessa Inkamala 

Skin name: Naparrula 


Language: Arunda 

Place of birth: Hermannsburg 

Vanessa was born in 1968 at Hermannsburg, a mission established by German Lutheran missionaries 

at the end of the 19th century. In her late 20’s she married Fabien, an Eastern Aranda man, and 

moved to Santa Teresa, 80 km south west of Alice Springs. Though Vanessa was already a skilled 

artist, she learnt and adopted this new style so specific to Santa Teresa. 

Room 5304 Title: Wild Bush Desert Flowers 

These spiritual women are guardians of the land and remain invisible to everyone most of the time. 

In this work, they are looking after a network of waterholes alongside the riverbed. However, if 

intruders come stealing some of the land’s resources such as bush tucker or water then the spiritual 

women will come out and the offenders will disappear forever. 

In these paintings, Vanessa painted the wild bush desert flowers after the rain. She also depicts 

some seeds from the bush flowers and waterholes from her country. 

Room 5119 Title: Desert Flowers 

Room 5309 Title: Desert Flowers 


Walala Tjapaltjarri 


Place of birth: Marua, east of Kiwirrkura, Gibson Desert, WA 

Language: Pintupi 

In 1984, Walala made international headlines when his family, known in the media as ‘The Lost Tribe’ 

or ‘Pintupi Nine’, walked out of the wilderness 700 km west of Alice Springs and made contact with 

the outside world for the very first time. Until then, he lived the traditional and nomadic life of a 

hunter-gatherer. 

Walala developed his own style to tell secret/sacred Tingari stories. These ancestors are linked 

to young men’s initiation. They travelled the land and shaped important ceremonial sites for which 

Walala is a guardian. They are Maruwa, Tarrku and Wilkinkarra in the Gibson desert and are marked 

by significant rockholes, sacred mountains and sandhills. 




FEATURED ARTIST 

Kathleen Buzzacott 

Kathleen Buzzacott was born in Alice Springs in 1970. She is of the Western Aranda / Pitjantjatjara 

language group. Her mother’s country spans the borders of South Australia, Western Australia and 

the Northern Territory. 

When she was a child, Kathleen moved to Queensland with her father and brother and sister, 

but moved back to Central Australia when she was 10 to live with her siblings and her mother at 

Hermannsberg. 

Kathleen began painting at the age of 16 along with her sister Julie-Anne Paige, who is herself 

a prominent artist. Kathleen is the creator and designer of a very popular range of Aboriginal 

jewellery incorporating natural seeds and nuts into contemporary settings. Kathleen is inspired by 

the bright and vibrant colours and the traditional significance that the Ininti seeds hold. Kathleen 

also paints bush tucker and children stories, which reflect her own happy childhood growing up with 

her family out bush. 

Kathleen’s artwork was used to create the distinctive balcony partition design on Block 5 of the 

Lasseters’ hotel wing. You can also view Kathleen’s cement press designs around this block leading 

to the pool. 

Cement press around resort pool area. 

Balcony partitions at Block 5 hotel wing, 

featuring Kathleen Buzzacott designs.

The Lasseters Collection - Lasseters Hotel Casino

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