Biography

Andrea Nungarrayi Martin was born in 1965 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Samson Japaljarri Martin, one of the founding members of Warlukurlangu Artists, and Uni Nampijinpa Martin, also a renowned artist. She grew up at Wakurlpa Outstation, north-west of Yuendumu. Andrea began working at the Art Centre at the request of the Committee while she was still at school, and worked there for 20 years, since the very beginning of Warlukurlangu. Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation is an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre in Yuendumu. Andrea paints her father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which related directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her father and his father’s father before them for millennia. Andrea uses traditional iconography, while developing an individualistic style to depict her traditional Jukurrpa. Andrea has been exhibiting in group exhibitions since 1990, culminating in a solo exhibition in 2008. She has three children, Cyril Jampijinpa Watson, Ritasha Nampijinpa Martin (who also paints for Warlukurlangu) and Clayton Jampijinpa Martin.