Angelina Tjaduwa Woods

Tjauruwa was born in the Great Victoria Desert at Warutjara, a place associated with Minyma Tjilkamata - the Echidna Woman, south of what is now the community of Jamieson (Mantamaru). Up until the winter of 1986, Tjauruwa lived traditionally, possessing only a few iron implements and tin bowls. Her family of seven was discovered in the northern Spinifex by a group revisiting important Men's sites after 25 years. With her young son on her hip, Tjauruwa first camped at Yakatunya, 90 kilometres south of Tjuntjuntjara. She then followed a moving camp that accompanied a road construction stretching 300 kilometres through the Spinifex Lands, before permanently settling in Tjuntjuntjara in 1989. In 1986, Tjauruwa was estimated to be around 32 years old and was assigned the birth date of 1st July 1954. By 2019, her family remained the last Aboriginal group in the country to make first contact with contemporary Australia. Adapting to her new environment, Tjauruwa faced profound changes. She formed relationships within an extended network of kin, transitioning from a life primarily focused on hunting and gathering to one supported by the community store, with abundant water supplies. Initially, her priority was caring for her mother and uncle in their new circumstances. It was only after her mother's death that Tjauruwa began to paint. At first, she mimicked the techniques of other women, but gradually, the experiences of her previous life and her mother's stories and designs emerged in her paintings, giving rise to a unique Spinifex perspective marked by spectacular style and technique. Tjauruwa became a leading Spinifex artist, with her works included in major awards and collections both in Australia and internationally.

2015 - Finalist (Women's Collaborative), 32nd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT
2014 - Finalist, 31st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT
2009 - Finalist (Women's Collaborative), Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA

2022 – MINYMA, Aboriginal & Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2020 – Smart Art, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany
2020 – Art Paris 2020, ARTKELCH at Art Paris, Paris, France
2019 – Kungakarungkalpa, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2019 – Explosion, Aboriginal Signature Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2019 – Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2018 – Spinifex People Spinifex Land: A Collection of Fine Spinifex Indigenous Art, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore
2018 – Ngura Ninti – Knowing Country, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany
2018 – Convoking the Genesis, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery at Eurantica, Brussels, Belgium
2017 – Wüste–Meer–Schöpfermythen, ARTKELCH at Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Cologne, Germany
2017 – Spinifex Arts 20th Anniversary, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2017 – Gems from the Remote Deserts, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Gallery at Parcours des Mondes, Paris, France
2017 – Spinifex, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2016 – Pila Nguratja – In Spinifex Country, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2016 – Rawa Nyinanyi – Unbroken, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2016 – Exposition Spinifex Arts Project, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Fine Art, Brussels, Belgium
2016 – LORE: The Visual Language of Cultural Identity, Raft Artspace, Hobart, TAS, Australia
2016 – Tjungutja – Art of the Spinifex Collaborative, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore
2016 – Purungu und Narrupa Sammlung, Kunstwerk in association with P. & A. Klein and ARTKELCH, Germany
2016 – Spinifex Arts Project 2015, Aboriginal & Pacific Arts, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2015 – Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2015 – Wo das Stachelkopfgras wächst, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany
2015 – Kulunypa – Selected Small Works from the Spinifex Arts Project, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2015 – Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation, The British Museum, London, UK
2014 – Spinifex Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2014 – Tjuntjuntjara Nguratja – Tjuntjuntjara is Home, Harvey Art Projects, Sun Valley, ID, USA
2014 – Salon des Refusés, Outstation Gallery & Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2014 – Pila – Spinifex Land, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2014 – 31st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2014 – Tjuntjuntjara – Recent Works from Spinifex Country, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2014 – Spinifex Tjukurpa, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
2014 – Spinifex Arts Project 2014, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2014 – Australian Contemporary Indigenous Art III, Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art in association with Vivien Anderson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
2013 – Kuwaritja – New Works of the Spinifex People, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2013 – Salon des Refusés, Outstation Gallery & Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2013 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2013 – The Wild Ones, Raft Artspace, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2013 – Spinifex Arts Project, ARTKELCH, Freiburg / Munich / Hamburg, Germany
2012 – Tupun Nguranguru – People of the Sandhill Country, 45 Downstairs Gallery with Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2012 – Spinifex: People of the Sun and Shadow, John Curtin Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia
2012 – The Bright, the Bold & the Beautiful: Indigenous Australian Women, Cooee Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2011 – Living Water, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2011 – Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2011 – Uwankara – Whole Lot of Everything: Paintings from APY/NPY Lands and Spinifex Country 2002–2011, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2011 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2011 – Spinifex Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2010 – Spinifex Arts Project 2010, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2010 – Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia (touring exhibition)
2010 – Australian Contemporary Indigenous Art Now, Chiaroscuro Gallery with Vivien Anderson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
2010 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2010 – Spinifex Artists Survey Show, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2010 – Spinifex Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2009 – Generation Next, Randall Lane Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia
2009 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2009 – Spinifex Artists 2009, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2009 – Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
2009 – Walka Putitja, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2009 – Tracking the Wati Kutjara – Spinifex 2009, Cooee Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2008 – New Works from the Spinifex Artists, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2008 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2008 – Kapi Ninti – Knowing Water Knowing Country, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2007 – Seattle Art Museum Exhibition, Seattle, WA, USA
2007 – Ten Years On, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2007 – Best of the Best, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 – New Spinifex Works, Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia
2007 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2006 – Art of the Spinifex People, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2006 – Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2006 – Flinders Lane Gallery Exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2006 – Marshall Arts Exhibition, Marshall Arts, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2005 – Spinifex Mob, Coo-ee Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2005 – Spinifex Artists, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK
2005 – Law and Land, Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands
2004 – Colour Power: Aboriginal Art Post-1984, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2004 – Spinifex Arts Project, Harbour House Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2003 – Spinifex Arts Project 03, Span Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2003 – Spinifex Arts Project 03, Raintree Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2002 – Native Title Business – Contemporary Indigenous Art, National Touring Exhibition, Australia
2002 – Putitja Nguru – Art of the Spinifex People, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2001 – Flinders University Art Museum Exhibition, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2001 – Supreme Court of the Northern Territory Exhibition, Darwin, NT, Australia
2001 – Broken Hill City Regional Art Gallery Exhibition, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia
2001 – All About Art, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2001 – Spiral Arm Gallery Exhibition, Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2000 – Pila Nguru – Art and Song of the Spinifex People, Western Australian Museum, Perth, WA, Australia (national tour)

Art Gallery Of South Australia, Adelaide, SA (Women's Collaborative)
Museum Funf Kontinente, Munich, Germany
National Gallery Of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery Of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC (Women's Collaborative)
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra, ACT (Women's Collaborative)
Richard And Harriet England Collection
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA (Women's Collaborative)
The Berndt Collection, University Of Western Australia
The British Museum, London, England (Women's Collaborative)
The Corrigan Collection, Australia
The Lepley Collection, Perth, Western Australia
The Sims Dickson Collection, NSW
W. & V. McGeoch Collection, Melbourne, VIC