JENNIFER MINTAYA CONNELLY WARD

Mintaya Jennifer Connelly Ward was born around 1964 at Mulga Park, north-east of Amata During her younger years she went to school in Amata before heading off to college in Alice Springs and then Adelaide. She lived in Papunya during her early twenties, but soon married and moved to Patjarr to be with her husband, Kunitja Wards, family

Jennifer is a dedicated family woman, raising her own seven children and now being the primary carer for several of her grandchildren Alongside her family responsibilities, she continues to work hard in both the remote media industry and as an artist Her career in media has spanned for more than a decade, since training at the Batchelor Institute in Darwin, and has included working as an editor and camera person

Jennifers art is influenced by her time living in Patjarr, and commonly depicts Kungkarrakalpa Tjukurpa’, the Seven Sisters Dreaming story She often uses both a brush and ‘ punu ’ (a small wooden implement) to create the many layers in her work. She also loves to work with many colours, and has a natural affinity for beautiful colour combinations

Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters Story) is a major Tjukurpa for Irrunytju (Wingellina) and across the central Australian deserts. The seven sisters travelled from Kaliwarra to Wannan in Western Australia , stopping at significant sites and rockholes including Kuru Ala a sacred place for women They encountered a lustful man named Wati Nyiru, who chased them around the desert Some of the details of this Tjukurpa (Dreaming story) are sacred and can’t be repeated