Parwalla

Elizabeth Nyumi's mother belonged to the country of Nynmi near Kiwirrkurra while her father was from Alyarra in the region of Ngaanyatjarra. When Nyumi was only a very young child her mother died tragically at the Kanari soakwater close to Jupiter Well. As a young girl, Nyumi lived a nomadic existence with her family group, before walking up the Canning Stock Route into old mission with her father and family group as a teenager. Here she was given clothes and taken to Billiluna Station and trained as a domestic worker and subsequently travelled to many station houses around the region working for the wives of the station managers.

Nyumi commenced painting in 1987 and began to emerge as a leading artist in the late 1990s. In 2004 Nyumi became the first artist represented by Warlayirti Artists to be selected for the Biennale of Sydney. Her works are mainly concerned with the country of abundant bush food belonging to her family, as seen in 'Parwalla' 2013.

[June 2014 submission, pg. 99-102]