"Minyma"

Size: 55.9 x 91.4cm

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Artist: Elsa Fiona Young

Code: 25-429

Story: 

Minyma pirni (many ladies) are siƫng down in the shelter of the wiltchya (windbreaks) they have built from the branches and grasses found in the desert. They have been digging for water at the soaks on the lake. They are involved in women's business at Lake Hopkins. This is Elsa's country, where her grandmother lived a traditional nomadic life. It was her grandmother who taught her the stories that she uses as inspiration for her paintings.

Artist Biography:

Fiona Young was born near Pungkupirri waterhole near Tjukurla in Western Australia, to senior law woman and
renowned painter Mrs T. Porter. She and her family are traditional owners for the country surrounding Tjukurla
community, and she has grown up with an intimate knowledge of the sacred sites and cultural and spiritual significance of these places.

She and her family were picked up by Native Patrol officers in the 1960s, and taken to Warburton Mission. She lived in Kaltukatjara (Docker River) and Warakurna before moving to the newly-established community of Tjukurla with her husband Adrian Young (dec), their children and extended family. Fiona now spends most of her time with her extended family and their many dogs, painting regularly and going on many bush trips. Fiona is now a grandmother and a senior Ngaanyatjarra woman, with a wealth of cultural knowledge and love for her country and family.

Her paintings depict the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) of her country around Tjukurla and Warakurna through beautifully intricate explorations of line and space. Her work was a finalist in the 2023 Fisher's Ghost Art Prize, and she has exhibited extensively across Australia and overseas.