Reconciliation Week: 5 Indigenous Artists You Should Know
This Reconciliation Week, we invite you to explore and honour the sacred storytelling traditions of First Nations communities. Continue reading to discover five remarkable Indigenous artists amplifying and sharing their deep connection to Country and culture in our collective journey towards reconciliation.
Rosalind Yibardi
Rosalind Yibardi is a highly respected senior artist in the Kaltukatjara (Docker River) community, a remote township in the Northern Territory. She was the previous director of Tjarlirli Art, a community-owned centre that provides a space for Indigenous people to gather to paint, share sacred stories, and engage in cultural practices.
Rosalind Yibardi is also a member of the NPY Women’s Council and the the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choi.
Rosalind paints important Tjukurpa (Dreaming) from around the Docker River area, including Seven Sisters and Kunga Kutjara (Two Women). Her topographical artworks depict the many rockholes located in the country surrounding Kaltukatjara and Puta Puta, near Rosalind’s birthplace. These rockholes have sustained the community for many years.
Rosalind emphasises their importance: “When the rain comes, it fills up the rockholes. The people know where to go find the water.” Click here to shop Rosalind’s portfolio.
Kaltukatjara Rockholes by Rosalind Yibardi. Now available to purchase online and in-person at Bluethumb’s Adelaide-based gallery.
Click here to browse and shop paintings from the Tjarlili Art Centre.
Brad Turner
Brad Turner was born and raised on Bundjalung Country, where he continues to live with his young family. His contemporary Indigenous art style combines earthy, coastal tones with vibrant colours that inspire hope and positivity.
Having only recently joined Bluethumb, we’re excited to showcase Brad’s incredible work!
“Initially, painting was a way to connect my daughter with her Indigenous heritage,” says Brad. “However, it quickly turned into a passion project, and I quickly realised how many other people wanted to feel that connection too. I use art as a way to help build relationships, connect people from all walks of life, and unite different communities with my culture.”
Nungalgiri Guttara 2 (Summer Coral) by Brad Turner. Click here to shop Brad’s collection of original acrylic paintings online today.
Alison Ngal Daniels
Alison Ngal Daniels is a prolific painter from Yuelamu, a small town in the Northern Territory. In a desert region, knowledge of the water, waterholes, and their songlines is central to Anmatyerr country. Alison paints Water Dreaming and Yerrakwerr Anengkerr (Bush Onion Songline), a tasty bush food she gathers on Country.
“There is a big lake where we go to get bush onion. They come out after the rain. In the cold weather, we dig them up,” says Alison. “They are nice, sweet a little bit. Cook them on the fire, then you eat them.”
Click here to discover and shop Alison’s original Indigenous paintings online today.
Alison is a member of Inkwareny Artists of Yuelamu, Bluethumb’s newly onboarded Indigenous Art Centre. The centre was formed in 2023 to assert the Anmatyerr people and artists of Yuelamu’s identity through art. It is three hours northwest of Alice Springs at Yuelamu in the Tanami Desert, Northern Territory, Australia.
Anakety Bush Tomato by Alison Ngal Daniels. Click here to explore Alison’s portfolio of original art.
Elsie Mpetyan Moore
Elsie Mpetyan Moore is another important Elder from Inkwareny Artists of Yuelamu. A guardian of the Inkwarney Anengkerr, Elsie’s vibrant acrylic paintings on canvas depict her love for the Tanami desert country, from Kwaty Anengkerr (Water Songline) and her knowledge of the animals that roam the land to the women who hunt and gather bush foods.
Meet Indigenous Elder Elsie Mpetyan Moore.
The bush foods depicted in Elsie’s work include Bush Berries, Anakety (Bush Tomato), Pwarl (Bush Banana), Nyetmaty (Witchetty Grub), and Anengkerr (Songline).
Discover and shop Elsie’s original paintings online today!
Click here to browse and shop work by the Inkwareny Artists of Yuelamu.
Reanne Nampijinpa Brown
Reanne Nampijinpa Brown is from Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km northwest of Alice Springs. She is one of Warlukurlangu Artists 600 members, the longest-running and most successful Aboriginal-owned art centre in Central Australia. She first began painting at the centre at age 13.
Reanne is part of a new generation of Indigenous artists who stand tall on the shoulders of their ancestors and carry the torch of cultural knowledge for future generations.
Discover Reanne’s portfolio of original Aboriginal art today! Click here to shop for her art online.
She paints Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) and Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming), which she has inherited from her father and grandfather’s side. These Dreamings relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it.
Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming) by Reanne Nampijinpa Brown.
Click here to browse and shop work by the Warlukurlangu Artists.
Shop art by these talented Indigenous artists and many more in this week’s curation, Now More Than Ever: Supporting Indigenous Artists.
Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful stories on our Indigenous Artist, I love to read and hear about their dream time paintings and stories. My favourite is the Medicine leaves, it’s very spiritual and I feel it has a connection to my spiritual side.
Such beautiful artworks from the artist.