Nancy Long Nungarrayi was born and went to school in Ali Curung. She started painting around the year 2000, joining her mother J Long Nampijinpa at the Ali Curung Women’s Centre. Rene Long Nungarrayi was also born in Ali Curung and took up painting regularly in late 2023. More recently, the sisters have developed a practice inspired by the paintings of their late mother which depict pereltye, a native bush lolly. Their collaborative practice has garnered acclaim, winning the Emerging category in the 2024 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize and being selected as finalists in the2024 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
Nancy Long Nungarrayi and Rene Long Nungarrayi, now the eldest generation of their family, are sharing these stories through their art across generations like it was passed to them. In taking on this large-scale work, they enlisted the help of Rene’s daughter Tisha and Nancy’s daughter-in-law Georgina, teaching and directing them just as Nampijinpa had done before. “I’m happy that we’re doing it and that everyone recognised her for her work. We’re continuing her legacy. It makes us really proud.” (Tisha Corbett)
