THAT’S HOW IT WAS | THREE STRONG WOMEN
This exhibition celebrates the art of three women from the remote northwest of Western Australia, who paint at the Spinifex Hill Studio in South Hedland, over a thousand miles north of the State capital Perth: Pilbara artists Mulyatingki Marney and Mayiwalku (Maywokka) Chapman, and Nyangulya Katie Nalgood from the Kimberley. Though their practices differ in artistic focus and aesthetics, all three artists are united in expressing their versions of ‘that’s how it was’: their deep connection to the living and ever-present significance of ngurra [home Country or camp]. Sisters Mulyatingki and Mayiwalku are pujimanpa [desert born], while Nyangulya was born and grew up on a pastoral station north of the mighty Fitzroy River.
Different ngurra, subject matter, diverse lived experiences and varying aesthetic styles: the powerful work by these three distinctive artists in That’s How It Was: Three Strong Women shows how Spinifex Hill Studio continues to provide a space for individual practices to flourish, and ongoing stories of Country to be compellingly told.
