Molly Napurrurla Tasman

Napurrurla grew up in the Tanami Desert and lived at Mt Doreen, Yarturlu-yarturlu and Yurrampi. She lived a traditional life style as a young child. She was moved to Lajamanu with her family when the government relocated people to the new community in the 1950s. She was dedicated to the preservation of her culture and works tirelessly to this end. She taught children in school bilingual education programs for many years. Her artistic talents are widely respected among her peers and those who knew her. Art is a way of preserving and expressing culture in a meaningful way. Napurrurla loved to paint and found a lot of freedom in this form of expression, showing her gentle feminine personality in her work, which is delightful to most viewers of the art she created. Napurrurla was a desert lady who has traveled by foot along the paths of her dreaming stories, and whose creations are from her soul. Napurrurla’s art has been featured in exhibitions all over Australia since 1992, and she was a finalist in the 2008 & 2011 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.