Women Gathering Bush Tomato | GA-5956

DOB: November 1978

Birthplace: Yuendumu, NT

Bush name: Gunija

Language: Warlpiri

Skin Name: Napurrula & Nangala

Community: Katherine NT


Adrianna was born in Alice Springs and spent her early life in Yuendemu, which is 293km North West of Alice Springs. When she was a young girl, she relocated to Katherine with her family.

When she first got her birth certificate, her name was listed as Adrianna Nangala Napurrula (her mother’s name), which she later changed to include her father’s name, Robinson.

She grew up around her mother Gladys Spencer Napaltjarri, who shared her Dreamings which included honey ants and witchetty grubs. Adrianna says her mother painted occasionally and sold her artworks in town to support her family. She was also influenced by her father, Nugget James Ted Robinson, who painted in a dot art style.

She has been painting since the year 2000, following in the footsteps of her family. She combines the Dreamings of her mother and father, focusing on the traditional role of women who gather bush fruit and Dreamtime creation stories from her mother’s side, incorporating the dot art she learnt from her father.

These “Women’s Dreamings” are stories of women ancestors who traveled across the desert gathering food, often pursued by men.

She remembers fondly collecting some of her favourite foods such as the lerp scale, which is produced by a pink-coloured grub which sucks the sap of eucalyptus leaves. In this process the leaves become covered with a wafer-thin white crusty scale, and a heavy infestation gives the leaves a white furry appearance. Adrianna said it has a pleasant sugary eucalyptus taste, and they used to remove the scale with their thumbnail and eat it, sometimes dissolving the scale in water to make a sweet drink. In some desert areas this is referred to as ‘sugar bread.’

Another theme Adrianna paints is the “Promised Husband”, which is drawn from legends and songs told to Adrianna by her family and explain how the men caught the women and according to women’s euphemistic accounts, “sat down with them”.

Adrianna has painted for many galleries within the Northern Territory and her artwork continues to evolve by adding new stories that she is told by her extended family. Adrianna has extended her colour range from earth colours to brighter hues, sometimes even doing double or triple dots which give her paintings a three-dimensional look.

In October 2010 Adrianna and a Rarrk painter, Manuel Pamkal from the Top End were invited to conduct a workshop in Japan. The manager of the Kyoto Royal Hotel & Spa Group invited them to be part of the “Australian Fair” after participating in the cultural experience at Top Didj & Art Gallery. Adrianna had a wonderful time sharing her culture and in return, learning about Japanese culture. Adrianna and Manuel were successful in the Brolga Tourism awards winning the Indigenous Tourism Award for 2010.

Adrianna lives in Katherine with her family and is passionate about sharing her culture through art and storytelling.