Purrpalarla - Biddy Long Nungurrayi

Biddy Long, affectionately known as Tiny and by her skin name Nungarrayi, was born in the early 1930s. She spent her childhood on Mount Doreen Station and travelling throughout the Tanami Desert with her family.

Like many Lajamanu artists of her generation, Nungarrayi began painting on canvas in 1986 after completing a Traditional Painting course conducted by TAFE. She went on to become one of the pioneering artists of the acrylic painting movement in the Lajamanu community.

Her introduction to painting, however, came many years earlier through learning to apply ochre to bodies for cultural ceremonies. The introduction of acrylic paint offered Nungarrayi a new and expanded palette of colours through which to express the stories and knowledge she had carried throughout her life.