Barbara REID

BARBARA WAS BORN IN 1962 AT PAAYA NEAR TJUKURLA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. SHE COMMENCED PAINTING IN 1987 AT THE CENTRE FOR ABORIGINAL ARTISTS IN ALICE SPRINGS.

SHE IS A NGAANYATJARRA WOMAN WORKING IN HER OWN UNIQUE STYLE, DEPICTING THE COUNTRY OF TJULURLA IN THE GIBSON DESERT, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. THE ARTWORKS ARE TRULY BEAUTIFUL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE LAND TO WHICH SHE IS CUSTODIAN & THE SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THEM.

ALSO IMPORTANT TO BARBARA’S WORK IS THE TELLING OF WOMEN’S SACRED STORIES, ‘MINYMA TINGARI’ THESE ARE NARRATIVES THAT DEMONSTRATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WOMEN’S CEREMONIES AND THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE SURROUNDING TJUKURLA WHICH IS DOMINATED BY EXPANSIVE SANDHILLS (TULI) AND ROCK HOLES(PULI) CONTAINING WATER WHERE BUSH FOODS ARE FOUND.

‘MINYMA TINGARI’ ALSO DESCRIBES THE ROLE OF WOMEN AS HEALERS AND PROVIDERS WITHIN THE NGAANYATJARRA SOCIETY.

BARBARA RECENTLY WON THE PRESTIGIOUS ‘NATIONAL ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER AWARD’.