In her first solo exhibition at Alcaston Gallery, having exhibited in group exhibitions since 2005, senior Gija artist Shirley Purdie presents new paintings and sculptures in ochre.

Shirley Purdie was born at Mabel Downs Station in 1948, 20 kilometres south-west of Warmun (Turkey Creek), She is the daughter of renowned artist Madigan Thomas and Sandy Thomas, who greatly influenced Shirley in the development of her artistic practice. A strong law and culture woman, as well as an important ceremonial singer and dancer, Shirley became inspired to paint her country in the early 1990s by the elder Warmun artists including her mother, Madigan Thomas, as well as the late Rover Thomas and the late Queenie McKenzie.

In the remarkable body of work, Burrum lirrkarn ngarri ngumbarra mangbu: My mother & father two fella bin learn me all the way, Shirley draws on traditional stories and Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming), and stories of station life to paint her parents’ country around Violet Valley, close to Mabel Downs Station. In her painting and sculptures Shirley uses ochres and wood from her own country, as the natural earth pigments allow her to create a beautifully rich textural quality in her work.

Shirley Purdie has been featured in several exhibitions in Australia and overseas, and her work can be found in many prominent national and international art collections including the Northern Territory University Collection, Darwin, Artbank Australia and the Commonwealth Institute Collection, London. In 2007, Shirley Purdie won the prestigious Blake Prize.

-Beverly Knight, 2012