Maringka Baker is an
Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
artist from central Australia. She lives in the
Pitjantjatjara community of
Kaṉpi, South Australia
Kaṉpi is an Aboriginal community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about south of the Northern Territory border at the base of the Mann Ranges. The nearby town of Nyapari is to the east.
...
, and paints for Tjungu Palya, based in nearby
Nyapaṟi.Maringka is known for her paintings. Maringka paints sacred stories from her family's
Dreaming (spirituality). As well as the important cultural meanings they carry, her paintings are known for being rich in colour and
contrast.
She often paints the desert landscape in bright green colours,
and contrasts it against reds and
ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
s to depict landforms.
She also uses layers of contrasting colours to show the detail of the desert in full bloom.
Maringka was born in outback
Western Australia around 1952.
She was born at Kaliumpil, an old ceremonial and camping site on the
Ngaanyatjarra lands. Her mother and father died when she was a young girl, and Maringka was brought up by
Anmanari Brown
Anmanari Brown is an Australian Aboriginal artist. She was one of the pioneers of the art movement across the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara lands, which began in 2000. Since then, her paintings have gained much success. Her w ...
and her other relatives. She went to primary school on the
mission at
Warburton,
but ran away to join relatives in
Ernabella. She later moved to
Kaltjiti, where she finished high school and got a job as a teacher.
In the late 1960s, Maringka married a man from
Papulankutja. They had a daughter, Elaine, in 1969.
Maringka's husband died while Elaine was still a baby. Maringka became a health worker and she moved with her daughter to
Irrunytju to work in the local clinic. In the 1980s, Maringka married Douglas Baker (nephew of
Jimmy Baker), and they moved back east to live at
Kaṉpi.
Maringka began painting in 2004. She paints for Tjungu Palya, a community arts centre based in nearby
Nyapaṟi.
She has become one of the centre's most well-known painters.
Since 2005, Maringka's work has been
exhibited in many cities around Australia, including Adelaide, Alice Springs, Broome, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Overseas, her work has been shown in exhibitions in Singapore,
Seattle and London.
Her work is held in the
National Gallery of Australia, the
Art Gallery of South Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...
, the
Australian National University,
and the
National Gallery of Victoria.
In 2007, Maringka was one of thirty artists featured in the first
National Indigenous Art Triennial
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
exhibition, ''Culture Warriors'', at the
National Gallery of Australia in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
.
It showed four of her paintings: ''Anmangunga'' (2006), ''Kata Ala'' (2006), ''Ngura Mankurpa'' (2006), and ''Kuru Ala'' (2007). The last of these, ''Kuru Ala'', is a depiction of a
sacred women's site near
Tjuntjuntjara
Tjuntjuntjara is a large Aboriginal community located 650 km north east of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Menzies in the southern part of the Great Victoria Desert.
The commu ...
that is associated with the
creation story of the Seven Sisters (called
Kungkarrakalpa in Pitjantjatjara). It was chosen as a finalist for the
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2009,
and is displayed in the National Gallery in Canberra.
Collections
She has works in the collections of
* the
National Gallery of Victoria (''Pukara'').
* the
National Gallery of Australia ''(''3 works including ''Kuru Ala'', 2008, and ''Kuru Ala'' 2007)
References
Other websites
Maringka Bakerat Short Street Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Maringka
1950s births
Living people
Australian painters
Indigenous Australian artists
Pitjantjatjara people
Australian women painters