ABORIGINAL DESERT ART  GALLERY

NELLI MARKS NAKAMARRA

ARTIST: NELLI MARKS NAKAMARRA
BORN CA: 1976
GROUP: PINTUBI - LURITJA
AREA: KINTORE, WESTERN DESERT
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Nelli is a quiet, shy and unassuming person by nature.

She was born in 1976 and has learned the dreamings of her family ever since she was a small child.

Nelli paints the dreaming of her father's and her grandfather's country which lies to the east of Kintore in the Northern Territory. The specific place of this dreaming cannot be given, as it is sacred to the artist.

The only dreaming she wishes to paint is the Turkey Dreaming. This dreaming has been handed down from generation to generation for many thousands of years. Nelli must now keep this dreaming and pass it on to future generations so that it may be preserved.

Nelli works around Kintore and has over a period of time gradually developed painting skills taught to her by Old Mick Namarrari, Uta Uta, Pinta Pinta and the great master her father Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula. This advancement has been very important in that it has enabled her the confidence to enter into wider society so that she may now show the world her culture and her dreaming.

Nelli is a respected member of her people and follows a traditional lifestyle. She takes part in women's ceremonies and women's painting when she is in her country.

Nelli is very confident and proud when speaking of her traditional ways. She paints with harmony and this is manifested by a seemingly effortless skill and an apparently natural sense of peace and charm; qualities which reflect her persona and acclaim the spirit of her people.

Nelli has been painting for Michael Hollow Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery, in Alice Springs Melbourne - Sydney since 1994.

Aboriginal paintings are based on myths of the Dreamtime. In modern dot representation, the sacred aspect of the painting is not always revealed, but the meaning remains, transmitted through symbols which are easily understood.

Each person has particular Dreaming to which they belong and they have special ceremonial dances and songs that combine together to form a unique religion that makes up the lives of the Aboriginal people. All things related to the land and thus the land is of great importance to them. The land is the keeper of the Dreaming and must be kept safe for all time so that the Dreaming stories, which are told in the paintings, can be preserved.

Ceremonies always involve song, dance and body decoration, The ownership, management and performance is dependent upon knowledge and status.

While many ceremonies are open or public, many are secret to varying degrees. The categories of people who can be present are restricted; groups such as women, girls and uninitiated men and strangers would all have limitations placed on them in relation to men's ceremonies; men, boys and uninitiated girls would have similar restrictions placed on them in relation to women's ceremonies