Barbara Napangarti Reid - Gibson Desert Artist

 

Barbara Napangarti Reid was born some time around 1964 in the Tjukurla region of the Gibson Desert. Her language group is Ngaanyatjarra. She began painting in 1987 with the Centre for Aboriginal Artists in Alice Springs. Barbara and her family continue to live in Alice Springs. Barbara Reid is an artist with a distinctive personal style whose works depict her traditional country in the Gibson Desert, Western Australia.

Many of her paintings show the puli (rock formations) and tali (sand hills) of this country and tell women's ceremonial stories related to the formation of the natural environment around Tjukurla. This area is dominated by expansive sand hills and rockholes containing water where bush foods are found.

Also vital to Barbara's work is the telling of minyma stories (women's sacred stories) involving the role of the woman as healers and providers in Ngaanyatjarra society.

Her work has been exhibited in one solo show as well as a number of group exhibitions and the Telstra Art Award.