Lucy Nampijinpa b. 1935 Willowra, NT

  • Artist (Painter)
Warlpiri artist from Willowra who painted her Dreamings as body design in dancing ceremony, and from the late 1980s on canvas.
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1994
Name
Lucy Nampijinpa
Birth date
c.1935
Birth place
Willowra, NT
Gender
Female
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • c.1935- Willowra, NT
Active Period
  • c.1989-
Languages
  • English
Is Indigenous
Yes
Heritage Country
  • Mt Barkly (Bau), NT
Dreaming
  • Budgerigar
  • Sugar Bag
  • Ngurlu, Damper Seed
Initial Record Data Source
  • Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert: A Biographical Dictionary

Born at Willowra in the 1930’s, Lucy Nampijinpa has camped in this region all her life. Her heritage country is Mt Barkly, to the south of Willowra, and she is a Warlpiri speaker. She paints the same Ngurlu (Damper Seed) story as May and Molly Napurrula , a Dreaming that was her great great grandfather’s; also Sugar Bag Dreaming, and her mother’s Budgerigar Dreaming. She is kurdungulu ('mother boss’) for the Sugar Bag and Budgerigar Dreamings in the dancing, and states that before she learnt to work on canvas she painted these designs on bodies. Grandmother of Janet Long Nakamarra and Malcolm Jagamara , she started painting at the same time as May and Molly Napurrula , when many men and women were supplied with materials through the CDEP Adviser in Willowra.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien
Note: secondary biographer
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011
associate of
Molly Napurrula
1930
Artist (Painter)
associate of
May Napurrula
1941
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Janet Nakamarra Long
1960
Artist (Painter)
grandparent of
Janet Nakamarra Long
1960
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Malcolm Jagamara
1955
Artist, Artist (Painter)
grandparent of
Malcolm Jagamara
1955
Artist, Artist (Painter)
sibling of
Peggy Nampijinpa
1940
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Kathy Nangala
1935
Artist (Painter)
relative of
Kathy Nangala
1935
Artist (Painter)
Citations: