The latest exhibition by Susan Peters Nampitjin extends her innovative work with hessian as a substrate for expanded painting. 

The titular term 'Tungkurl' refers to the hair string which is used to wrap 'Warntu', a traditional Jalngu grass receptacle that stores foods such as nuts and bush fruits. The grass is bunched together and smashed into a mat, then rolled with the nuts and fruits inside and tied with wool.

Exhibitions launch 
6pm Friday 21 April 2023
Susan Peters Nampitjin - Tungkurl will open at 6pm with speeches from approximately 6:30pm. Tungkurl will open alongside Claudine Marzik - The Body Language of Plants, Erica Muriata - Midja and Caleb Cameron - Deeply Decayed. Please join us to celebrate these artists and works. 

Umbrella Floortalk
10am Saturday 22 April
Join Umbrella and artists Claudine Marzik, Susan Peters Nampitjin and Caleb Cameron for a discussion about their exhibitions and their art practices. Read the full details here.

Susan Peters Nampitjin was born on Argyle station in 1963 near the banks of the Behn River, and lived there with family for four years. Susan’s family worked as jackaroos, stockmen, camp cooks, yard builders, and fencers. As time passed in 1970 the Ord river scheme came to be, and her family was trucked back to the desert. Susan was removed from her mother and travelled to Queensland with her father, sister, and carer mother. Susan is a descendant of Walmajarri and Ngarti People (Yagga Yagga Way) who hold ancient stories, Waljirri (dreamtime) ceremonies, and oral history of families living around Paruku (Lake Gregory). 
The central focus of Susan’s art practice is a personal reflection about family, Country, community, oral histories, survival, and traditional lifestyles (traditional foods, medicines). The diverse countryside, waterways, and sand hills are depicted through the use of bright colours, and varying shades of purple, blue, greens, yellows and reds. Her works are contemporary, and sometimes include the use of traditional symbols and ochres. She often uses other mediums as an extension of her art practice, including inks on fabrics, and natural bush materials, such as seeds, pandanus leaves, and grasses to make baskets. 
Over the last few years Susan has been working with hessian and ochre (moving away from canvas). Exhibiting with Umbrella in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) in 2021, Susan won the CIAF Award for Innovation for this new development in her practice.