Narabri Nakamarra

Narrabri Nakamarra Paintings

Quick Facts: 

  • Artist: Narabri (Narrabri) Nakamarra

  • Born: c. 1950, Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory

  • Passed away: June 2010

  • Community: Haasts Bluff, Papunya, then Kintore

  • Art centre: Papunya Tula Artists

  • Began painting: 1999 (first paintings for Papunya Tula Artists at Kintore)

  • Mother: Makinti Napanangka, 2008 Telstra Award winner

  • Sister-in-law: Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri, 2006 Telstra Award winner

  • Key themes: Sand hills (tali), women's ceremony, Lupulnga, country near Kiwirrkura

  • Medium: Acrylic on linen or canvas

Narabri Nakamarra (also spelt Narrabri) came to painting later in life, yet in barely a decade, she built a body of work that is admired for its quiet strength and its deep connection to women's law. Born into one of the most celebrated artistic families of the Western Desert, she painted her own path while carrying her mother's stories forward. At Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery, we are proud to share her story with collectors and art lovers in Melbourne and around the world.

Explore Investment Art

Early Life: From Haasts Bluff to Kintore 

Narabri Nakamarra was born around 1950 at Haasts Bluff, west of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Her family soon moved to Papunya, the settlement that would become the birthplace of the modern Western Desert Aboriginal art movement. Later, she settled at Kintore with her husband, Hilary Tjapaltjarri, and their family of two daughters and five grandchildren.

Growing up in this world meant growing up around painting. Her mother, Makinti Napanangka, became one of the most respected senior painters of Papunya Tula Artists, and her sister-in-law, Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri, rose to the same heights. Painting was part of the fabric of daily life long before Narabri picked up a brush of her own.

A Late Start and a Remarkable Rise 

Narabri's first steps into painting came as a helping hand. She assisted her mother with her canvases in the period before Makinti's successful eye operation. In 1999, she began painting in her own right, completing her first works for Papunya Tula Artists at Kintore.

From the beginning, she was curious and adventurous. She explored a diverse range of dreamings, and her early paintings sometimes shifted noticeably in style, often echoing the senior artists she had watched and admired. Over the following decade, that experimentation settled into a voice that was distinctly her own.

Style, Stories and Symbols 

Narabri's work is strongly shaped by her mother's. Long, confident straight lines, representing sand hills (tali), run through many of her compositions, giving them a rhythmic, almost meditative quality. She also painted themes connected to Lupulnga, a women's ceremonial site of which her mother is custodian. Titles such as Women's Ceremony and Women's Dreaming point directly to this heritage.

Other works look to the Country itself. Paintings such as Payarrnga (2007) and works titled after the Country near Kiwirrkura in Western Australia reflect the landscape her family knew and travelled. By the end of her career, collectors and curators recognised that she had moved beyond her mother's influence into a style that was truly her own.

Buy Special Paintings

Exhibitions and Recognition 

Although her painting career spanned only about eleven years, Narabri's work was shown widely in Australia and overseas. Highlights include:

2003: Papunya Tula Artists: A Gift from the Desert, Utopia Art, Sydney

2004: Redlands Westpac Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney

2005: New Ideas, Utopia Art, Sydney; Rising Stars, Gabriella Pizzi Gallery, Melbourne; New Works from the Western Desert, Indigenart, Perth

2006: Journeys of the Dreamtime, Beijing Blue, Hong Kong; Across the Board and A Particular Collection, Utopia Art, Sydney; The Peter Bailie Art Award, Flinders University City Gallery, Adelaide; Paintings by Papunya Tula Artists, Suzanne O'Connell Gallery, Brisbane

2008: Kintore to Kiwirrkura :Papunya Tula Artists, ReDot Fine Art Gallery

2009: Rockholes and Claypans, Red Desert Gallery, Eumundi

Central Art also featured her work in the exhibition Amazing Women of the Desert. Her paintings continue to appear in galleries and at auction, including large-scale works such as Women's Ceremony (2008, 205 x 198 cm), which has been offered with provenance through Whitford Fine Art, London, and Douwes Fine Art, Amsterdam.

Legacy 

Narabri Nakamarra passed away in June 2010. In respect of her family and Aboriginal cultural protocols, some galleries and art centres have chosen not to publish images of her. We share her biography with the same respect, and we encourage viewers to approach her paintings as what they are: living records of women's knowledge, country and family.

What she leaves behind is a compact but powerful body of work. For a painter who began in her late forties, the depth and individuality of her art is a testament to the strength of the tradition she belonged to, and to her own quiet determination.

Collect Narabri Nakamarra at Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery 

Narabri Nakamarra's story is one of inheritance and independence: a daughter of Papunya Tula painting who learned alongside her mother, then found her own voice in the lines of the sand hills and the stories of women's ceremony. Her paintings carry the strength of the desert and the care of family.

Whether you are a seasoned collector or buying your first Aboriginal artwork, her work is a meaningful way to connect with Western Desert culture. Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery has built close relationships with respected Aboriginal artists and presents more than 3,000 paintings across 16 rooms. Every artwork is supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity, and we ship worldwide, with free shipping across Australia.

Interested in works by Narabri Nakamarra or other Papunya Tula artists? Our team can help you check availability, view works in person, or source paintings that match your collection. Contact our team today to begin your collection.

Call Us