Biography

Shekina Nangala Sampson was born on the 13 March 2002, in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. Shekina is born into a long line of major Warpiri artists. She is the daughter of Geraldine Napangardi Granites and Clifford Jampijinpa Sampson, and the grand-daughter of Alma Nungarrayi Granites (1955 – 2017). Shekina went to the local school before going to Alice Springs to attend Yirara College, a boarding school for Indigenous students. When she was at school she liked playing sport and studying reading and writing. She has now finished school and has returned to Yuendumu.

Shekina began painting in 2018 with the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu. She paints her grandmother’sYanjirlpirri or Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa (Stars and Seven Sisters Dreaming). She likes working with colour and uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

When Shekina is not painting, she enjoys cleaning her Aunty Valda’s house, creating a clean place to share with family and friends, especially when watching TV. On weekends, she sometimes goes hunting with her family.