Gladys Daniels b. 1968

Gladys paints the tali (sandhills) that define the
topography of her desert country. Her style of painting is characteristic of
Western Desert artists, using dot and line work to represent ancient, sacred
Dreaming stories. Using this seemingly simple mark-making technique, Gladys
creates incredible optical-style art with rhythm, movement and depth. The
sandhills that span her country, along with all the topographic features of the
land, are believed to have been formed by the travels of ancestral beings during
the ancient Creation era. The ancient Tingari Tjukurpa (Dreaming) songlines trace
the movements of the Tingari ancestors, and form the basis of traditional law,
social structure, and ceremonial life for people of the Pintupi and Luritja
language groups of the Western desert regions. Gladys has a meticulous
technique that lends her canvases a mesmerising effect, and her colour palettes
capture the essence of the undulating desert landscape.