Language Group: Warlpiri
Born: 1953 Yuendumu
Mary was born near Mt Doreen Station. As a young girl she lived a traditional lifestyle learning about gathering bush tucker, bush medicine, craft and bead work for traditional ceremonies as well as learning the important cultural knowledge and Dreaming stories of her country. Whilst she was still relatively young her family was picked up by a white man and relocated to Yuendumu Community, an Aboriginal settlement approximately 3 hours from Alice Springs. She “grew up” at Yuendumu and met her husband Mick “Pegleg” Brown Tjampitjinpa (who sadly passed away) a fellow artist there. They later relocated to Mount Liebig and then onto Nyirripi Community. She later remarried Ronnie Tjampitjinpa a celebrated and talented Western Desert artist and together they have three sons who live in Yuendumu. Mary first began painting in the early 1990’s at first sporadically as there was no art centre where she lived. In 2005 she began painting for Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation in Yuendumu and since that time has begun painting with much more frequency.

About the painting - Ngalyipi Dreaming at Mina Mina

The painting represents Ngalyipi or snake vine that grows on the Desert Oak tree (wurrkali). This Dreaming describes the journey of a group of women who travelled east gathering food and Ngalyipi, which is the snake vine that grows up the Desert Oak trees. It is used for a ceremonial rope when making witi poles. The women performed ceremonies on their journeys; they eventually finished beyond Walpiri country. In the painting the wavy lines represent the Ngalyipi and the circles represent an edible fungus called Desert Truffle. This is the body paint style used in this ceremony.