Sandhills | SP-1131

DOB: c. 1959

Birthplace: Walungurru (Kintore), NT

Region: Walungurru, NT

Language: Pintupi/Warlpiri/Luritja

Skin name: Nakamarra


Elizabeth Nakamarra Marks was born around 1959 in Walungurru and is the daughter of Frank Tjupurrula and Mary Napanangka. She resides east of Kintore in the Northern Territory and speaks Pintupi, Luritja, and Warlpiri, the latter from her mother's lineage. Elizabeth is a member of Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd., joining this significant Aboriginal-owned cooperative in Kintore and Kiwirrkura as part of a later generation of female artists.

Following the death of her father during her infancy, she was raised by her stepfather Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula and her uncle Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, both prominent figures in the Papunya Tula art movement. She married the late Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, another influential artist of the movement, with whom she had three children: Angelina, Peter, and Farren.

Her artistic journey began in earnest in 1998, after the passing of her husband, when she started painting her father's stories from Kalipinya, approximately 400km west of Alice Springs and north of Sandy Blight Junction. Her artwork predominantly revolves around the Dream Time, depicting the era before human existence when a massive storm reshaped the landscape with lightning and water torrents, creating rock holes and creeks.