Katherine Marshall Nakamarra

Katherine Marshall Nakamarra, the daughter of highly acclaimed Pintupi artist Walangkura Napanangka, has been painting since 1986. Her father, Johnny Yungut Tjupurrula was also an artist, as were her mother’s sister, Pirrmangka Napanangka, and her grandmother, Inyuwa Nampitjinpa. Along with her sisters, Debra Young Nakamarra and Lorraine Yungut Nakamarra, Katherine Marshall Nakamarra was handed down stories and shown how to represent them by her mother Walangkura Napanangka.

Similarities can be seen between Katherine Marshall Nakamarra’s work and the bold style of other Papunya Tula artists, particularly that of her mother.  This is especially evident in the way the paint is applied in thick, joined dots. Katherine Marshall Nakamarra, however, has refined and developed her own palette of colours and personal way of representing the iconography to depict the traditional sacred women’s sites in the Kintore area, which is located 250km west of her birthplace. Two of the sites that form the subject of Katherine Marshall Nakamarra’s paintings are Muruntji and Tjintjintjin. In these works, the concentric circles represent the important ceremonial sites for Katherine Marshall Nakamarra and her ancestors, while the connecting lines between the circles represent the ancient travelling paths that link these sites. Aboriginal art status – Under-rated, mid career artist.

Selected Exhibitions

2011 Katherine Marshall Nakamarra, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2014  Mini Masters: Small Works, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA