Biography

Cecilia Napurrurla Wilson was born in 1974 at Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community, 290 km north west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She grew up in Yuendumu, attending the local school and spending much of her time in the surrounding country learning about her land, her culture and her law through story.

Cecilia Napurrurla has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2018. She initially painted her Nguru Yurntumu-wana Jukurrpa (Country around Yuendumu) and Nguru Nyirripi-wana Jukurrpa  (Country around Nyirripi), stories her parents told her when she was young and spending time in the country. As she became more confident she began to paint her Grandparent’s Lappi Lappi Jukurrpa, a significant Warlpiri rock hole about 90 km northwest of Lake Mackay in Western Australia, stories that have been passed down through the generations for millennia. Cecilia uses an unrestricted palette to depict her traditional iconography.

Cecilia loves her country, the colours and how they change through the seasons, the water, the water holes and the hills. When visiting family in Nyirripi she also takes the opportunity to paint with fellow artists.