Winmati Roberts is descended from a line of renowned artists from the Spinifex, Ngaanyatjarra and Pitjantjatjara border region of Western Australia and South Australia. Winmati was born near Ernabella Mission at the Umuwa rock hole in the late1950’s. His mother, the late Wingu Tingima, was one of the best known painters of the region.. Winmati’s father, the late Lima Tingima, passed on his great knowledge of the country and the law to his son. Around the time of Winmati’s birth his uncle, Lawrence Pennington and other family members were being contacted for the first time as patrol officers clearing the way for the Maralinga atomic tests. As a young man Winmati worked on a project to ‘return to country’ by sinking bores and building windmills in traditional homelands. He helped to establish the community of Nyapari where he lived for many years. For the past ten years he has resided at Tjuntjuntjara.