Esther Bruno Nangala b. 1981

Esther Bruno Nangala is the granddaughter of Naata Nungurrayi, a legend of the Western Desert art movement. Esther was born in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in 1981, and grew up in Christmas Creek in Western Australia, near Fitzroy Crossing, and later in Walungurru (Kintore).

Esther represents an exciting view into the future of Western Desert art. Esther’s works are vibrant and often textured with heavy paint application. Esther takes a great deal of pride in her painting, always looking for new ways to visually express her culture through colour and form. Esther is a self-critical painter and a master of colour, and in 2022, her paintings were exhibited in the prestigious Art Paris art fair. She has also painted and donated significant works to the Sydney Peace Prize Foundation.

Esther uses symbols typical of the Western Desert to represent the women collecting bush raisins. Esther often includes larger roundels to represent the grinding stones on which they grind the raisins into a sticky paste. The paste is then rolled into a ball and the women carry it with them for sustenance as they walk long distances. The small circles are the rush raisins, either loose on the desert floor or still on the bush. The series of consecutive lines are the Tali (sandhills) in which the bush raisin grows.

Click here to learn more about Esther's painting and Dreaming story.