In this series, we introduce the nine artists behind Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia, on view at The Phillips Collection June 2–September 9, 2018.
Installation view of works by Lena Yarinkura in Marking the Infinite. Photo: Lee Stalsworth
LENA YARINKURA
Born 1961, Maningrida, Northern Territory
Lives and works in Maningrida, Northern Territory
(Rembarrnga/Australian)
detail of Lena Yarinkura’s “Spider”
The daughter of renowned weaver Lena Djamarrayku, Lena Yarinkura is a great fiber art innovator in the Arnhem Land region where she resides at an outstation on her mother’s country close to the Aboriginal community of Maningrida, home to more than 15 different Aboriginal language groups. She is part of the community-based Aboriginal arts cooperative Maningrida Arts and Culture. Yarinkura’s work has had a profound influence on artists throughout the region, winning acclaim at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 1994 and 1997. She is represented in most important collections in Australia, including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.