Linda Syddick Napaltjarri facts for kids

Linda Yunkata Syddick Napaltjarri (born around 1937) is an Indigenous Australian artist. She speaks the Pintupi and Pitjantjatjara languages. She comes from the Western Desert area of Australia. When Linda was young, her father passed away. Later, her mother married Shorty Lungkarta Tjungarrayi, who was also an artist. His artwork greatly influenced Linda's own painting style.

Linda Syddick was one of many women from the Western Desert who started painting in the early 1990s. This was part of a bigger movement in contemporary Indigenous Australian art. She began painting before 1991, which is when her art was first shown in Alice Springs. Her paintings are special because they mix Christian ideas with traditional Aboriginal themes and symbols. She has been a finalist many times in important art awards, like the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and the Blake Prize, which is a competition for religious art. Her artworks are kept in famous galleries, including the National Gallery of Australia. Linda Syddick was also the subject of a portrait by artist Robert Hannaford. This portrait was a finalist in the 1992 Archibald Prize, Australia's top portrait competition.

Linda Syddick's Life Story

Lake Mackay, where Syddick was born.

Linda Syddick was born near a place called Wilkinkarra, also known as Lake Mackay. This area is in Western Australia. It is northeast of Kiwirrkurra Community, Western Australia and northwest of Kintore, Northern Territory. The exact year of her birth is not certain, but it was around 1937. This is because Indigenous Australians sometimes estimate dates differently, often by comparing them to other big events.

Linda has a "skin name" called 'Napaltjarri'. This is a special name used by Indigenous people in central Australia. It helps show how people are related to each other. These names also help decide who people can marry and are linked to certain totems. While they can be used to address someone, they are not like surnames that Europeans use. So, 'Linda Syddick' is the part of her name that is unique to her.

Linda's parents were Wanala (or Napulu Nangala) and Rintja Tjungurrayi. Sadly, Rintja passed away when Linda was very young. In 1943, her mother moved to Kintore. Linda's stepfather, Shorty Lungkarta Tjungarrayi, had a big impact on her early art. Linda married Musty Siddick, and they had two children, Ruby and Irene. In the 1970s, they lived in a Pintupi community called Yayayi in the Northern Territory. After Musty passed away, Linda married again.

Linda has also been recognized for being a model for painters. She was the subject of a painting by Robert Hannaford. This painting was a finalist in the 2002 Archibald Prize, which is Australia's most important portrait award.

Her Art Journey

How Modern Indigenous Art Began

Modern Indigenous art from the Western Desert started in 1971. Indigenous men at Papunya began painting with help from a teacher named Geoffrey Bardon. They used acrylic paints to create designs that looked like body paintings and ground sculptures. This new way of painting quickly spread across Indigenous communities in central Australia. A government art program in central Australia in 1983 helped it grow even more. By the 1980s and 1990s, this art was being shown all over the world.

At first, only men were the artists, especially the founders of the Papunya Tula artists' company. Some Pintupi men in central Australia were not keen on women painting. However, many women wanted to join in. In the 1990s, a large number of women started creating paintings. In Western Desert communities like Kintore, Yuendumu, and Balgo, people began making artworks specifically to show and sell.

Linda Syddick's Career as an Artist

Linda Syddick was already painting by 1991. Her works were shown in a private gallery called Gallery Gondwana in Alice Springs. Her paintings, like A nest of crosses, gladly borne, often mix traditional Indigenous painting styles and symbols with Christian images and ideas. For example, she painted this work for an exhibition about Mary Mackillop.

In 2000, two of Linda's paintings were part of an exhibition called From Appreciation to Appropriation. One painting, Eucharist, explored Christian influences in Indigenous culture. The other, ET: the bicycle ride, looked at how Hollywood movies influenced culture. Linda's interest in Christian iconography (religious symbols) is also seen in her work The Eucharist. This painting was part of another exhibition in 2004 that explored how Christianity came to Australia. Other works show her traditional homeland, like her painting Tingari Men at Wilkingkarra (Lake Mackay). This painting was a finalist in the 2009 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Artists from the Western Desert, like Linda, often paint figures from the Tingari cycle of 'songlines'. These are stories about ancestral elders who, in the Dreaming, traveled vast areas. They performed rituals and shaped the land.

In 1990, Linda went to Sydney to see her painting Ngkarte Dreaming displayed in the Blake Prize exhibition. She was a finalist in this prize three times before 1994. Her art was also included in the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art in 1998. She has been a finalist in the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards several times: in 1995, 2006 (with The Witch Doctor and the Windmill), 2008 (with Big rain at Walukurritje), and 2009 (with Tingari Men at Wilkingkarra (Lake Mackay)). Linda Syddick's artworks are held in several major public collections. These include the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Art Collections Featuring Her Work

• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• Art Gallery of South Australia
• Artbank
• Auckland City Art Gallery
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
• National Gallery of Australia
• Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia

Awards and Recognition

• 2009 – Finalist, 26th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
• 2008 – Finalist, 25th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
• 2006 – Finalist, 23rd National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
• 1995 – Finalist, 12th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award