Biography

Rochelle Nampijinpa Major was born in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Kintore, a small Aboriginal community located 550 km west of Alice Springs, and 127 km SW of Nyirripi. She is the daughter of Shiela Nunagarri Dixon and Riley Jangala Major. Rochelle grew up in Kintore and attended the local school.  When she finished school, she worked for the Kintore Shire Council. She now livesin Nyirripi with her partner Junior Sims and together they have three children.

Rochell began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu in 2017. She paints her grandmother’s Warna Jukurrpa (Snake Dreaming). Rochell learnt to paint from watching her late grandmother paint, “My grandmother taught me to paint. I always hear my grandmother talk, telling me about the skin names and the stories she painted.” These stories relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They have been passed down over thousands of years.