Minyma

Minyma pirni (many ladies) are sitting down in the shelter of the wiltchya (windbreaks) they have built from the branches and grasses found in the desert. They have been digging for water at the soaks on the lake. They are involved in women’s business at Lake Hopkins. This is Elsa’s country, where her grandmother lived a traditional nomadic life. It was her grandmother who taught her the stories that she uses as inspiration for her paintings.

 

Elsa (Fiona) Young was born near Pungkupirri waterhole near Tjukurla in Western Australia, to senior law woman and renowned painter Tjawina Porter. She lived in Kaltukatjara (Docker River) and Warakurna before moving to Tjukurla with her husband Adrian Young (dec), their children and extended family. Elsa now spends most of her time with her mother and their many dogs, painting regularly and going on bush trips. Elsa is a strong Ngaanyatjarra woman, with a wealth of cultural knowledge and love for her country and family. Her paintings depict the Tjukurrpa of her country around Tjukurla and Warakurna.