Shirley Purdie facts for kids

Shirley Purdie is an amazing Indigenous Australian artist. She was born in 1947. She is well-known for her paintings. In 2007, she won a special award called the Blake Prize for Religious Art.

Shirley Purdie lives and paints in the Warmun Community. This community is located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

About Shirley Purdie's Life

Shirley Purdie was born in 1947. Her birthplace was Gilbun, also known as Mabel Downs Station. This place is in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Her mother's name was Madigan Thomas.

Shirley later moved to Warmun, which is close to where she was born. She still lives and creates her art there. She is married to another artist named Gordon Barney.

In her culture, her Ngarrangarni totem is a crow. Her skin name is Nangari.

Shirley Purdie's Art and Style

Shirley Purdie learned to paint from two very important women. Her mother taught her, and so did a famous Kimberley Indigenous artist, Queenie McKenzie. These two women were among the first to start painting at Warmun in the early 1980s.

One of Shirley Purdie's most famous artworks is called Stations of the Cross. This painting shows Christian iconography (religious images). It also tells the story of difficult times and conflicts in her community during the 1920s and 1930s.

In March 2007, there were big floods. Shirley's Stations of the Cross was on the walls of the Warmun Art Centre. The floodwaters washed it off. Later, it was found near the creek, but it was badly damaged.

Awards and Recognition

Shirley Purdie has received several awards for her art. In 2007, she won the Blake Prize for Religious Art. She won this award for her powerful work, Stations of the Cross.

Where to See Her Art

Shirley Purdie's artworks are kept in important art galleries. These include the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The National Gallery of Australia also has her work.

One of her pieces there is a lithograph from 1996. It is called Giwiwan – Bow River Country. This print shows how much she was influenced by the painting style of the famous artist Rover Thomas.

Books About Shirley Purdie

There is a book about Shirley Purdie's life and art. It is called Shirley Purdie: My Story, Ngaginybe Jarragbe. This book was published in 2020.

The book was recognized for its quality. It was shortlisted for the Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer in 2020. This was part of the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the 2021 Children's Book of the Year Award for New Illustrator.