#19 My Grandmothers Country - ARTIST: HELEN RUBUNTJA 93cn x 70cm
Region: Utopia, Northern Territory, Central Australia.
Circa: 1965
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Language: Alyawarre
Completed: 30 August 2025
Title: My Grandmothers Country
Biography:
Helen Rubuntja was born on Amaroo Station, a remote cattle station in Central Australia, around 350 kilometres north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Art and cultural storytelling have always surrounded her — her mother, Nelly Rubuntja Apetyarr, paints the country around Ampilatwatja, while her uncle, the late Wenton Rubuntja, is remembered both for his powerful paintings and his leadership in the land rights movement.
Helen’s creative vision is anchored in the memory and spirit of her grandmother’s country. She paints vast desert horizons, the striking forms of the eastern MacDonnell Ranges, and the changing life of the land after rain. Her works often feature the fleeting wildflower blooms that carpet the ground in bursts of pinks, yellows, and purples, alongside the enduring desert oaks that stand as sentinels year-round.
Her style is uniquely her own — a meeting place between Western landscape traditions and the intricate dot techniques of contemporary Aboriginal art. Through this fusion, Helen captures not just the appearance of the land, but its pulse and transience, inviting the viewer to witness both the resilience and fragility of the desert.
