Sabrina Nangala Robertson was born in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Sabrina grew up in Yuendumu and went to the local school. She now alternates between living in Yuendumu and Alice Springs.
She is one of five daughters of the acclaimed Aboriginal artist Dorothy Napangardi, who died in a tragic accident in 2013. Since the 1990’s, while often in the company of her mother, Sabrina pursued and developed a creative visual language all of her own, one which consists of a fascinating blend of stylised experimentation and ancient narrative.
She has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation since 2005. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa or Dreaming, stories passed down to her by her father and her father’s father before her for millennia. These stories relate to her traditional land, Pirlinyarnu (Mt Farewell), its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Sabrina has exhibited in Australia and in France.
The country associated with this Jukurrpa is Mina Mina, a place far to the west of Yuendumu, which is significant to Napangardi/Napanangka women and Japangardi/Japanangka men. All of them are the custodians of the Jukurrpa that created the area. The Jukurrpa story tells of the journey of a group of women of all ages who travelled to the east gathering food, collecting ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine) and performing ceremonies as they travelled. The women began their journey at Mina Mina where ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks) emerged from the ground. Taking these implements the women travelled east creating Janyinki and other sites. Their journey took them far to the east beyond the boundaries of Warlpiri country. The ‘ngalyipi’ vine grows up the trunks and limbs of the ‘kurrkara’ (desert oak) trees. ‘Ngalyipi’ is a sacred vine to Napangardi and Napanangka women that has many uses. It can be used as a ceremonial wrap, as a strap to carry ‘parrajas’ (wooden bowls) that are laden with bush tucker and as a tourniquet for headaches.
