Kiritji | Nancy Nyanyarna Jackson

Nancy Nyanyarna Jackson was born at Kirritji, near Patjarr in the Gibson Desert, on her father’s traditional land, and today lives with her family in Warakurna. Her practice is grounded in intimate knowledge of place. Jackson often returns to Patjarr and the surrounding lands, now recognised as the Pila Nature Reserve, to paint, hunt and visit sites of cultural significance. These trips, often lasting weeks, affirm a living relationship with Country. “Painting occupies the spaces between these activities, especially in the evening after dinner – when often the two ladies (Nancy & Nyungawarra Ward) will continue to work long into the night, sharing stories and recollections that both inform and reinforce their practice.” — Jacob Gerrard-brown. In this way, her paintings emerge not as isolated studio objects but as extensions of lived cultural practice, inseparable from land, memory and community. Her meticulous dotting overlays carefully mapped underpaintings, each mark resonating with rhythm and intent, encoding ancestral knowledge into contemporary form.