Celena Tunkin b. 1997

Celena Tunkin was born in the remote community of Kanpi, nestled in the Musgrave Ranges just 20km south of the Northern Territory border in the expansive Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. Celena is an emerging artist from an area known for its rugged beauty, strong cultural law, and abundance of notable contemporary artists. Celena comes from the Baker family, a very famous painting family from the Kanpi community; including notable artists Jimmy Baker, Kay Baker, Teresa Baker and Kani (Patricia) Tunkin Baker.

Like many of her female relatives, Celena paints the story of ancestral woman Minyma Malilu, a deeply significant story related to a sacred cave site near Kanpi. She also frequently paints aspects of the Kalaya (Emu) story from her country, which details the tale of an emu who tells a lie to a bush turkey. The emu is deceptive and tries to convince the bush turkey to kill his son, claiming that it is necessary, and that the emu has already killed his own son too. The bush turkey is able to see past the lie, and protects his only son.

Celena depicts the topography of her ancestral country, the rocky outcrops of the Musgrave Ranges, and she often includes the footprints of both birds and the large nest of the bush turkey. Celena is evolving her own style, and takes after some of the relatives before her, using the traditional dot technique of the Central and Western Desert painting movement, and she calls attention to the warm colours associated with the stark desert landscape with her preference for red, yellow, orange, deep purples and burgundy with her colour palettes.