Myra Patrick Herbert

Myra Patrick, skin name Nungarrayi, walked across the Tanami desert to Lajamanu with her father in the early 1960s, where her arranged husband was living.

Along with many Lajamanu artists of her era, Nungarrayi commenced painting in 1986 when TAFE conducted a Traditional Painting course in the community. She became widely renowned for a unique technique of very fine dots, which provided her paintings with an ethereal, shimmering appearance. The technique was made possible by collecting and sharpening fine twigs to allow her to apply her trademark dots.

After developing Repetitive Strain Disorder (RSI) from painting, Nungarrayi took a hiatus in the 1990s. As she has aged, Nungarrayi has lost the motor skills and dexterity to continue the technique that made her famous, and now utilises broad and sweeping brushstrokes to convey her Jukurrpa (Dreaming).

Nungarrayi was also known for her collaborative paintings with her now deceased husband, Freddy Patrick Tjangala, as well as pottery. The Jukurrpa she depicts comes from her father’s homeland, Yinipaka.

In 2018, Nungarrayi’s paintings were selected for Parrtjima, an indigenous light festival in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Her artwork was converted into visual light projections, along with a collaborative installation of sounds of the budgerigar.