Anyupa Stevens, one of the finalists in the 2015 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, paints scenes from her father’s country in Piltati in South Australia and the ventures she made with her grandmother, the late painter Kunmanara, as a child.
The winners of the award will be announced at a ceremony on Friday evening at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin.
Anyupa's paintings are renowned for their vibrant colours including a collection that features the tjala (honey ants) of her grandmother’s country.
I used to go digging for tjala with my grandmother and she would tell me stories and show me where to dig
"They are going back and forth on top of the earth and under the earth in their holes," she said about her collection on Short St. Gallery’s website. "I used to go digging for tjala with my grandmother and she would tell me stories and show me where to dig."
Anyupa’s mother is from Aeronga in the Northern Territory but Anyupa lives at Nyapari near Piltati in South Australia with her family where she works at the Murputja School.
Anyupa along with other 2015 finalists including Laurie Nona from Badu Island in the Torres Strait, Yinarupa Nangala from Kiwirrkurra, Western Australia, and the Munmalih sisters from Manaburduma, Northern Territory, will be displaying 65 art works at the awards ceremony at the gallery until November.
