Biography

Priscilla Napurrurla Herbert was born in 1977 in Alice Springs. She attended Yirara College, an aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. As a child she lived in Areyonga, west of Alice Springs with her mother. Her parents were separated when she was very young. After leaving school Priscilla worked for some time at Uluru. She met Lewis Moneymoon at Uluru and married him shortly after in Alice Springs. They live in Nyirripi and have one daughter born in 2007. Priscilla has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2010. Her country is Tanami Downs, until recently Mongrel Downs Station, located about 700 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. It was on Mongrel Downs that her Grandparents died and it is her father’s country and her father’s brother’s, “Uncle Ronnie Lawson’s”, country. Ronnie Lawson was the main spokesperson for the claimant group claiming traditional aboriginal ownership of Tanami Downs. Priscilla paints her father’s Ngurlu Jukurrpa, (Native Seed Dreaming), and Lukarrara Jukurrpa (Desert Fringe –rush Dreaming), stories which relate directly to her land, its features and animals. When Priscilla is not painting she likes to visit her Mother in Areyonga and her Aunty Jennifer and Uncle Colin in Alice Springs.