| Artist | Selma Nunay Coulthard |
|---|---|
| Title | Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs), West of Alice Springs, NT |
| Year | 2022 |
| Medium | Watercolour on paper, framed |
| Dimensions | 33 × 51 cm |
| Art Centre | Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre → |
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Selma Nunay Coulthard
My name is Selma Coulthard. My Aboriginal name is Nunay. I am a Pertama Maduthara Luritja Tribe from Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs Station) which is located South West of Alice Springs in Central Australia. I was born in Alice Springs in 1954 and grew up at Tempe Downs until the Government started to remove half-caste kids from their families and put them in mission boarding homes. I was taken to Hermannsburg (Ntaria) where I did my schooling. It is here that my love for art started when I saw the Namatjira brothers doing their painting in Ntaria and around tourism camps such as Glen Helen and Palm Valley. I have always wanted to be an artist and I just hope that my work will be recognised. No work is the same – each piece is unique in its own right.
Artist statement
It is my homeland, from my father. My father’s Country.
Regarding the flood 2021-22; That was the first real wet season in Tempe for long time. It started the regrowth of the vegetation. It makes us feel really happy, reversing all the damages caused by the cattle and the horses, the plants have the chance to regrow with no interference.
My artworks are based on my stories; my work on Mulga Spinifex Country, my Country where I grew up and lived – Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs), the oasis in the Desert at Urrampinyi, running Waters at Irrmakara, spiritual keepers of our land, my dreaming – the Thorny Devil, animals in my Country, paintings depicting women’s ceremonial site (business) and more.