Mary Ross Nabarula b. 1956

Mary Ross Nabarula was born in 1956 at the Aboriginal community of Willowra, some 300km north-west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in the Northern Territory. Mary was taught how to paint by her father, and moved to Alice Springs in late 1999.

In her paintings, the waterholes around which the damper seed grows are represented by the roundels. These waterholes have water coursing to them from a central water hole. The damper seeds are depicted by the delicate white dotting. The women harvest the damper seed and grind it up to make bush damper, a bread-like tucker.

Mary’s Dreamings include My Country, Bush Damper Seed, Wallaby and Water Dreaming.  Typically working in a monochromatic palette, Mary uses the repetition of fine dots to depict various flora, food sources and geological aspects of her country. She has a great sense of visual harmony that lend her canvases a calming, meditative quality.