featured artists

Dion Beasley

Born in Alice Springs in 1991, Dion Beasley is an Alywarr artist from the remote community of Owairtilla, also known as Canteen Creek. Dion spent many of his early years living in remote communities in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory before relocating to Tennant Creek. Being profoundly deaf Dion has experienced many challenges throughout his life but has developed a great passion for drawing, which has served as a means of communication with others. Dion is well known for his Cheeky Dogs brand. You can enjoy his many books, Cheeky Dog Plush toys and other merchandise. Read more

Fabian Brown

Fabian is the most well known of the Nyinkka men’s art collective - The Tennant Creek Brio. Fabian’s artistic output is prolific, highly imaginative and powerful. His graphic line work has a residual immediacy and conjures a concoction of mythological figures and motifs referencing various characters from the Old Testament, the Dreaming, Greek mythology, mythological beings and beasts. The works emanate a palpable raw energy and at their best contain the prophetic resonance of oracles

Jimmy Japarula Frank

Jimmy is one of the staff of Nyinkka Nyunyu and a skilled artisan working with wood. With Joseph, the two are the only men of their generation to hold these skills strong. He produces a range of traditional artefacts including spears, clapsticks, digging sticks, hunting boomerangs, and coolamons. He began carving as a young man taught by his uncles and he is now passing on the skill to the younger generation. He is our cultural liaison officer and Events facilitator. As one of the best dances in our community, he coordinates and organises the Pujalli performances (corroborees) held at Nyinkka Nyunyu.

Simon Wilson

Simon is a Tennant Creek Brio member, and his work confounds expectations of what Aboriginal Art is and presents an intelligent and expressive artistic approach. Simon enjoys working at an edge and can be understood as an outstanding performance artist. His action paintings continue to evolve and he has recently begun painting on new materials including old TV screens making statements that would lend themselves to a stage. His work capture remarkable incidents in time.

Freda Shannon

Freda Shannon was born in Alice Springs on 5 August 1975 and is Warumungu, Walpiri and Luritja woman. She speaks four languages and attended Alice Springs High School and Yirrara College. When she left college Freda worked at Ernabella Arts and Craft as a screen printer and then became a full time artist and moved on to Julalikari Pink Palace (art centre) in Tennant Creek. Freda is now a leading artist for Nyinkka Nyunyu and also does wood carving and burning using hot wire. Freda has four children and three grandchildren, she loves to work across various mediums including weaving, painting, carving and making bead bracelets and necklaces. She is very talented, enthusiastic and dedicated to her artistic career. We feel very lucky to have her on our team.

Lindsay Nelson

Lindsay was born in 1974 grew up at Ali Curung with Fabian. They went to school together and now paint together in the Brio. Lindsay speaks Walpiri his first language and Kaytetye. His country is Jarra Jarra. He initially worked for the Council at Ali Curung in Community Development before settling in Tennant Creek and working with the painting group. Lindsay’s father was an important ceremonial boss in the region and widely respected for his knowledge about Law and country. This is reflected in his sparse and elegant iconic work, the ceremonial language of his forebears. 

Peggy Jones

The late Peggy Jones was regarded as one of the more experimental artists working in the Northern desert region. Originally she started painting canvases in the classic 'dot and circle' style in 1996. She had various artist residencies at Batchelor College and Northern Editions Print Making Workshop at the Northern Territory University in Darwin where she produced lithographs, two-plate etchings and silkscreen works. Her work is now in many national and international collections. Peggy described herself as ‘an artist all of the time’.

Marcus Camphoo

Marcus is the youngest member of the Tennant Creek Men’s Painting group. He often works with oil on linen, sometimes on boards, with large abstract grids. His contemporary style is powerful and minimalist which expresses his mystical and other worldly personality. Marcus’ work is intriguing in how he intuitively alludes to other dimensions within the work. His structures and portals continue beyond the two dimensional support. He is a prominent member of the Tennant Creek Brio, an exciting artist collective which grew out of a painting project in a men’s therapy group at the Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation.

Joseph Jungarayi Williams

Joseph Williams is a master carver who has a long experience of traditional and modern carving and sculpture in Tennant Creek. He started to practice carving with his grand father (Apurtu) when he was a teenager. He reinvents the traditional objects such as boomerang (Kayin), clapping sticks or coolamon (Purnu) using hard and softwood. He has recently been experimenting with installation and video work, along with being a member of the Tennant Creek Brio, a collective of artists who have been exhibiting together since 2016. His work is in numerous private collections.

Clifford Thompson

Clifford belongs to the Kayetetye language group, his mother’s country is Karku Karlu (Devil’s Marbles) and his father’s country is Jarrah Jarrah. Clifford’s interest in art began as a boy at school doing chalk drawings on small blackboards. Clifford is a keen worker and likes to paint to keep his mind off his problems and assist him to steer away from alcohol. Painting is also a way for him to connect with country and remember his ancestors. Clifford preferred medium is enamel on board, his work is large and bold depicting many aspects of country, mainly his mother’s country.

Flora Holt

Flora is a popular artist for Julalikari Arts and Crafts (Nyinkka Nyunyu). We are proud to have a wonderful selection of her works still on sale. Flora’s works continue to attract attention and acclaim for their whimsical approach and extraordinary colour application. She was born at Brunette Downs Station and lived there most of her life she worked as a cook and cleaner. She was a Wambaya women who lived among the Warumungu women. She had one son and one daughter and was known for her participation in Women’s dancing (Yawulyu).

Lindy Brodie

Lindy has been painting with Julalikari Arts since 2003, and before that at Jukurrpa Arts in Alice Springs. Her life is closely linked to the Barkly Region and her work documents her intricate knowledge of her land and its history. She came to pre-eminence with a series of works that recorded the building of the Alice Springs- Darwin rail link through her country. Her depiction of the rocky spinifex country that she lives in is truly evocative. She also paints everyday occurrences throughout her life creating an important social bi-line. Throughout her career Lindy has consistently painted Christian Biblical stories, reflecting her strong beliefs emerging from her childhood station-life religious instruction.

Natasha Casson

Natasha was born in Alice Springs and went to school at Tennant Creek High School. She moved to Tennant Creek when she was 15. Nathasha has two children, two girls named Gwendolyn and Griselda. She joined the Julalikari group of artists in 2010 and likes painting her country and its abundant bush foods.