449-24UA, Acrylic on Belgian Linen, 142 x 146cm
Myra Kumantjara is painting her grandmother’s country Kalpi, near Mimili on the APY Lands. Kalpi is an important women’s place and full of rockholes. Water collects in these rockholes after the rains and is an important source of water during the dry season. Knowledge of rock hole sites is passed on from generation to generation and revered by all Anangu. Myra Kumantjara is an emerging artist based in Umoona Community, in Coober Pedy in the north of South Australia. Myra began painting with Umoona Art Centre in mid-2021. She has demonstrated a deep talent and confidence in her bold paintings, and alongside her individual works, she has also collaborated with her mother Jeannie Minunga and aunty Kay Finn on large-scale paintings. Umoona Arts is located in Umoona Community, Coober Pedy, in the north of South Australia. Established in 2020, Umoona Arts joins neighbouring art centres on the APY Lands with the central aim of building capacity for sustainable employment pathways through the art centre. Community members have commenced work with passion and focus. There is a collective spirit of ambition and drive, as a long-held dream of owning and operating their own art centre has finally become a reality. Umoona Community is diverse, with artists from different language groups across the central desert working alongside those who have always called Umoona and Coober Pedy home. Artists embrace a variety of mediums including acrylic paint on linen, punu work and carving (wood-work), tjanpi (fibre weaving) and ceramics, with works demonstrating a diversity of styles alongside a vibrant use of colour and energetic mark making.
