Helen Rubuntja b. 1965

Helen Rubuntja was born at Ampilawatja, a remote community situated on Ammaroo cattle station some 320km north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Ampilawatja is one of several communities that are part of the expansive Indigenous homelands region of Utopia. Helen is the daughter of Nelly Rubuntja Apetyarr, another artist from Ampilatwatja. Helen is also the niece of renowned Arrernte painter and a key figure in the land rights movement, Wenton Rubuntja. The legacy of the Rubuntja family in Mparntwe is defined by their significant contributions to Aboriginal land and human rights activism, art, and community leadership.

This painting depicts Helen’s grandmother’s country – the brilliant azure desert sky, the rolling hills and towering peaks of the eastern MacDonnell Ranges. Helen captures the abundance of this country, the ephemeral wildflowers that burst into bloom after the precious desert rains, and the stoic desert oaks that stand like sentinels year-round.

Helen's style is a fusion of a Western way of seeing the landscape, but layered with the dots that have become synonymous with the Western Desert contemporary Aboriginal art movement. She enjoys working with bright colours, and her canvases have a sincerity and reverence for her ancestral country. They provide a little window, a glimpse into the timelessness of the desert expanses that have nourished Indigenous people for tens of thousands of years.