Collection: Elsie Napanangka Granites

Place of birth: Yuelamu / Mt. Allan (NT) –
Language Group: Warlpiri –
Language area: North-West of Alice Springs

Elsie Napanangka Granites was born in 1959 at Yuendumu, one of the larger desert Aboriginal communities roughly 300km north-west of Alice Springs) on the Tanami Road. Elsie is an artist from Yuendumu and is known for her exceptionally fine dot work and stunning depictions of Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming).

Elsie’s traditional Country is Jayinki, which forms a major part of her paintings' identity and cultural content. Elsie and her sister’s family have spent their whole lives in Yuendumu and are active community members. She has worked in many of the aboriginal-owned and governed organisations, including the Women’s Centre, The Old Peoples Program, Women Night Patrol, and Warlukurlangu Art Centre, where she worked in the preparation of canvases and painting.

Elsie Napanangka Granites began painting in 1987 at Yuendumu and has refined the Dreaming stories she paints over nearly three decades of her career. The main Jukurrpa or Creation stories that Elsie paints include Mina Mina Jukurrpa and Karnta Jukurrpa, the central Women’s Dreaming stories from this Warlpiri region in the Tanami Desert. Elsie Napanangka Granites also paints Honey Ant Dreaming – Yarrumpi Jukurrpa, and Snake Vine Dreaming – Ngalyipi Jukurrpa.

Elsie Napanangka Granites has three children and many grandchildren. Elsie takes an active role in their lives and ensures that the Dreaming stories she inherited are passed on to her grandchildren. The importance of culture and identity remains strong in her family.