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Ernabella is located with the eastern fringes of the Musgrave
Ranges. An ancient well worn landscape of eroded granite hills
and occasional sources of water in a testing environment.
Ernabella community is part of the Angangu Pitjantjatjara
Yankunytjatjara Lands in far northern South Australia.
The Ernabella Art Centre started life as the “craft
room” in the Mission days in the middle of the last
century and now operates as Ernabella Arts Inc.
Ernabella Arts Inc is owned and governed by the artists and
proceeds of the art sales are returned to artists and the
art centre.
Contemporary artworks are produced in a range of mediums:
Batik fabrics, painting on linen, canvas and paper, print
making and ceramics.
Ernabella Arts produces its own unique style of ceramics.
Initially ceramics were produced in collaborations with individual
artists such as Robyn Best and with organisations like the
Jam Factory. Initial production was based around a technician
making the blanks for the artists to decorate.
These works are represented in major collections in Australia
and overseas.
Whilst collaborations are still carried out the bulk of the
production of ceramics is now made at the Ernabella Art Centre
by local people.
The terra cotta ceramics are made by a number of methods including
slab building utilising a variety of slump, hump and cylindrical
moulds, coiling using plaster moulds.
Ernabella artists have built an international reputation
through their Batik artwork on fabric. Now this technique
using wax resist is being applied to pots creating an innovative,
exciting and instantly recognisable distinctive Ernabella
style of ceramics.
The more traditional technique of sgraffito is also used.
This involves carving through coloured slips to the clay body.
The motifs used reflect personal interpretations of local
lore, culture, land and the bush lifestyle including bush
foods such as bush tomatoes and bush bananas.
The artists carry out collaborative commissions from time
to time with other Australian and overseas artists.
Click on the image for a larger image.
Artist: Unakini Tjangala
D.O.B:1934
Title:Small cylinder (glazed inside
only)
Size: 24cm x 10cm
Cat No: UT001-06
Price: $120
Artist: Yilpi Adamson
D.O.B: 1954
Title:Small cylinder (glazed
inside only)
Size: 24cm x 10cm
Cat No: YA004-05
Price:$120
Artist: Yilpi Adamson
D.O.B: 1954
Title: large cylinder (glazed inside only)
Size: Ht 42cm dia 11cm
Cat No: YA-006-06
Price:$330
Yilpi Adamson was born in Ernabella, 1954.
Yilpi is mainly a batik artist and has only recently begun
to experiment with ceramics. She is renowned as an expert
beanie maker.
Artist: Nungalka Stanley
D.O.B: 1939
Title:Small cylinder (glazed inside only)
Size: 24cm x 10cm
Cat No: NS002-06
Price:$120
Artist: Nungalka Stanley
D.O.B: 1939
Title:large bowl (glazed inside and out)
Size: HT 11cm dia 28cm
Cat No: NS-020-06
Price:$220
Nungalka Stanley was born in Wingellina
in 1939 and is a Pitjantjatjara woman and began batik and
screenprinting in the 1970s.
Selected exhibitions:
Karnta, travelling south East Asia for DFAT, Canberra, 1988
Texas International festival, USA, 1988.
Wirutjuta, Araluen Centre for Art and Entertainment, Alice
Springs, 1989.
CINAFE, Chicaro, USA, 1993.
Walka Wiru Tjuta, Bendigo Art gallery, Victoria, 1993.
Ernabellaku: tjkurpa Wiru, Nganampa Tjukurpa, Museum national,
Jakarta, Indonesia, 1994.
Australian Girls Own Gallery(AGOG), Canberra, 1998.
Ernabella Walka/Ernabella Design, Muttijulu Cultural Centre,
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park,1997.
Ernabellaku: tjkurpa Wiru, Nganampa Tjukurpa, Museum national,
Jakarta, Indonesia, 1994.
Warka Irititja munu Kuwari Kutu (Work from the Past and Present):
A Celebration of Fifty years of Ernabella Arts, Tandanya,
Adelaide, 1998.
Threefold:an exhibition in three parts for Shift, Canberra
School of Art, Canberra, 1998.
Mil Arte Gallery, London, 1998.
Selected acquisitions:
Queen Victoria Museum and art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania,
1994.
National Museum of Australia,1994,2004
Artist: Malpia Davey
D.O.B: 1959
Title:large bowl (glazed inside
and out)
Size: Ht 10cm x dia 27cm
Cat No: MD00306
Price:$180
Malpiya Davey was born in 1959 and has lived in Ernabella
most of her life.
She has five daughters and a son and numerous grandchildren.
Now that her children are grown up she can spend more time
in art making and is especially skilled in ceramics, as well
as painting and print making.
Malpiya’s mother’s and father’s country
is to the west of Ernabella near the Western Australian border
in country between Watarru and Iltur; Malpiya often paints
about this country.
Since Ernabella Arts opened its on-site ceramic studio in
2003 Malpiya has been one of the most enthusiastic and prolific
ceramic workers there. She has pioneered sgraffito technique
on ceramic pieces at Ernabella and made it her specialty;
her works have been acquired by major collectors as well as
Araluen Alice Springs and Flinders University Art Museum.
Malpiya uses various species of bush foods/mai putitja as
the subject of many of her sgraffito pieces: the shapes of
bush tomatoes/kampurarpa, ili/wild figs, and wayanu/quandong
all lend themselves to the fluid, curvilinear patterning that
complement the ceramic forms on which she works.
Her ceramic work has been shown at the JamFactory Centre
for Craft and Design, Adelaide, Flinders University City Gallery,
Walkabout Gallery Sydney, MAGNT Darwin, Desert Mob Araluen
2003, 2004, 2005 and Nomad Art, Darwin.
Artist: Malpia Davey
Title:Small cylinder (glazed inside only)
Size: 24cm x 10cm
Cat No: MD003-06
Price:SOLD
Artist: Yatji Heffernan
D.O.B: 1955
Title:Small coolamon plate (glazed
top and partial bottom)
Size: 31cm x 27cm
Cat No: YH00406
Price:$180
Yaritji was born in 1955 and educated at Ernabella.
She divides her time between Alice Springs Ernabella where
she has family.
Yaritji is a very skilled basket maker, using spinifex grass
and emu feathers to great effect. She also learnt and practised
batik in the Ernabella art centre.
In her recent visits to Ernabella Yaritji has tried her hand
at ceramic decoration for the first time.
Artist: Dora Hagi
D.O.B: c.1938
Title:small square plate (glazed
top and partial bottom)
Size: 25cm sq
Cat No: DH00106
Price:SOLD
Dora Hagi was born in
central Australia c.1938. Dora lives and works at Ernabella.
Selected exhibitions:
Objects from the Dreaming, Art Gallery of South Australia,
Adelaide, 1996
Great lengths Aruluen, Centre for Art and Entertainment, Alice
Springs, 1996
Purnululu, Raintree Aboriginal Fine Art Gallery, Darwin, 1997
Threefold: an exhibition in three parts for Shift, Canberra
school of Art, Canberra, 1998
Australian Girls Own Gallery, Canberra, 1998
Walka Ernabella Palyantja (Designs made in Ernabella), spark
gallery, Wollongong University, 1998
Warka Irititja munu Kuwari Kutu (Work from the past and present):
A celebration of Fifty Years of Ernabella Arts, Tandanya,
Adelaide, 1998.
Contemporary Australian Craft, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art,
Shiga, Japan, scheduled tour curated by the Powerhouse Museum,
1999.
Acquisitions:
Artback Nets Darwin 1997
Dreamtime Gallery, Florida, USA. 1997
Artist: Dora Hagi
Title: small bowl (glazed inside
and out)
Size: Ht 7.5cm x dia 17cm
Cat No: NS002-06
Price:$88
Artist: Elsie Taylor
D.O.B: 1979
Title:large coolamon plate (glazed
top and partial bottom)
Size: 35cm x 44cm
Cat No: ET00106
Price:$400
Artist: Elsie Taylor
D.O.B:1979
Title: small square plate
Size: 26cm x 26
Cat No: ET-016-06
Price:$177
Elsie Taylor was born in 1979, and works
at Ernabella
Selected exhibitions:
Printabout, Artback NETS NT, Travelling, NT and State capitols,
1996-1998.
Ernabella Walka/Ernabella Design, Mutijulu Cultural Centre,
Uluru-Kata Tujuta National Park 1997.
Warka Itritija munu Kuwari Kutu (Work from the past): ACcelebration
ofFifty years of Ernabella Atrts, Tandanya, Adelaide, 1998.
Artist: Carol Williams
D.O.B: 1977
Title:small bowl
Size: 7.5cm x dia 17cm
Cat No:CW00306
Price:$88
Carol Williams was born in 1977, and
lives and works in Ernabella.
Selected exhibitions:
CAAACE, Araluen Centre for Art and Entertainment, Alice Springs,1996.
Desert Mob Show, Araluen Centre for Art and Erntertainment,
1997.
Hidden Horizons,Desart show for the Fringe festival, tandanya,
Adelaide,1998.
Top Of the Torrens Community Gallerey, Mt Pleasant, Adelaide,
1998.
Australian Girls own gallery (AGOG), Canberra, 1998.
Palupuruntypa Palu kutjupa (Same but Different), Newland gallery,
Port Adelaide, 1998.
Warka Iritja munu Kuwari Kutu (Work from the Past and Present):
A celebration of Fifty years of Ernabella Arts, Tandanya,
Adelaide, 1998.
Artist: Priscilla Adamson
D.O.B: 1980
Title:small bowl (glazed top and
partial bottom)
Size: Ht 7.5cm dia 11 cm
Cat No:PA-006-06
Price:$88
Priscilla Adamson was born in October 1980. She moved with
her mother and siblings to live permanently at Ernabella some
years ago.
Priscilla has only recently started working in the art centre
at Ernabella and is trying her hand in various mediums for
the first time. She has made some beautiful ceramic work decorated
with designs in sgraffito technique.
In July 2005 Priscilla participated in a painting workshop
at Ernabella which was conducted by Tracey-Lea Smith, foundation
co-ordinator of Minymaku Arts (now Tjala Arts) at Amata. Priscilla
worked along side her mother Yilpi who is a noted batik artist
and painter, and together they made a series of works depicting
bush flowers. Her first work shows considerable promise and
she is keen to continue learning and practicing her art work.
For all sales enquiries please use the contact
us page and quote the artist and stock number.
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