Biography

Maggie Napangardi Williams was born in 1958 in Willowra, a remote Aborigiinal community, 339kms north west of Alice Springs. She grew up in Willowra, attending the local school and spending her childhood in the surrounding country learning about her land, her culture and her law through her Jukurrpas … her Dreamings.

Maggie Napangardi has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, 162 kms south of Willowra, since 2014.  Maggie paints her Janmarda Jukurrpa (Bush Onion Dreaming); Jarli Jukurrpa (Frog Dreaming); Walpajirri Jukurrpa (Bilby Dreaming) – Nyariku; Karnta Jukurrpa (Women’s Dreaming); and Kanta Jukkurrpa (Bush Coconut Dreaming – Puturlu), Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her parents and grandparents and their parents before them for millennia.

When Maggie visits Yuendumu to see family and friends. “We get together and as we paint we all tell stories.” She also visits the Art Centre to drop off paintings and collect canvas and paint to take back to Willowra.