BORN 1969

REGION Amata

LANGUAGE Pitjantjatjara

Tjungkara Ken was born in Amata, South Australia, in 1969 and was one of the first young artists to begin working with Tjala Arts in 1997. Growing up deeply connected to Country, Tjungkara’s paintings are inspired by the landscapes, stories and cultural knowledge of her ancestral lands. As she describes, her work reflects ngura – Country – including rockholes, hills, creek beds and important Dreaming sites.

Tjungkara paints both independently and collaboratively with family members. She is one of five sisters who form the Ken Sisters Collaborative, alongside Yaritji Young, Freda Brady, Maringka Tunkin and Sandra Ken. Their collective work Seven Sisters was awarded the prestigious Wynne Prize in 2016, recognising their powerful contemporary interpretations of Country and ancestral stories.

Her paintings draw on her mother’s Country at Wingellina, including the Ngintaka (Echidna) Dreaming, as well as her father’s Apara story. Using traditional tools such as punu sticks rather than brushes, Tjungkara creates intricate fields of colour, movement and pattern. She describes her aerial perspective as similar to “looking down from an aeroplane,” capturing the vastness and spiritual connection of the landscape.

Tjungkara’s work explores the relationship between colour, movement and storytelling. She has also engaged in artistic exchanges with contemporary Australian artists, including a collaboration with her sister Yaritji Young at Sydney Contemporary in 2017, where they responded to paintings by Ben Quilty and explored shared ideas of energy, scale and mark-making.

A highly respected contemporary Aboriginal artist, Tjungkara has been a finalist in major awards including the Archibald Prize, the Wynne Prize, and the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Her work is held in significant collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, QAGOMA and Artbank, as well as major private collections throughout Australia.