Flash Minky Blanket | Martuwarra by Sonia Kurarra

Artist: Sonia Kurarra Art Centre: Mangkaja Arts Born: 1952 Language: Walmajarri Title: Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) Size: 132 x 152 cm After many consecutive decades Sonia Kurarra operated at the cutting edge of contemporary Australian art making. Born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community, her parents were part of the Walmajarri diaspora whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Living most her life at Noonkanbah, she was a teacher's aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children. Her intimacy with the river has informed most of her life.Her work often includes repeat motifs of parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself. Sonia began painting at Mangkaja Arts in the early 1990s working mostly on paper. Since 2008 she has exhibited in numerous National and International shows and is a corner stone of art making in the Fitzroy Valley region.