Tali Tali Pompey facts for kids

Tali Tali Pompey (born around 1945 or 1947 – died November 16, 2011) was a talented Aboriginal artist from central Australia. Even though she only started painting in 2002, her artwork quickly became famous. Many important art galleries bought her paintings.

About Tali Tali Pompey

Tali Tali Pompey was born on a sand dune near a place called Finke. This area is in the southern part of the Northern Territory. Her name, Tali, comes from the word tali, which means "sandhill" in the languages of the Western Desert.

Her parents were Yankunytjatjara people. They came from lands further south in South Australia, near Kalka and Kaṉpi. Tali Tali grew up around Finke. Later, as a young woman, she moved south to Ernabella.

Ernabella was a special place set up for Aboriginal people. While living there, Tali Tali learned many crafts. She learned how to sew, make batik (a way of dyeing fabric), and spin sheep's wool into rugs.

Tali Tali married her husband in Ernabella. He was an important Pitjantjatjara elder and a keeper of the traditional laws. They moved to Kaltjiti in the 1960s. They had eight children together: six sons and two daughters.

Tali Tali started painting for Kaltjiti Arts in 2002. She painted often, and art experts quickly noticed her work. In 2003, one of her paintings, called Pita, was chosen as a finalist. This was for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Another of her paintings, Para - Desert Gums, was a finalist in the same competition in 2010.

Tali Tali Pompey painted for about ten years. Her artworks are now in many Australian art collections. In 2007, she had a small stroke. This affected her left hand, but she got better and kept painting. She passed away on November 16, 2011, in Alice Springs.

Her Amazing Art

Tali Tali Pompey's paintings show parts of the central Australian landscape. She painted things like sand hills, beautiful flowers, and trees. Her paintings often have a soft, hazy look.

Most of her art is minimalist in style. This means she used simple shapes and colors. She would combine basic shapes with fields of dots or lines. Tali Tali was known for using thick brushstrokes. She also used a wide range of bright colors in her art.

Her designs were also used to make special rugs by Kaltjiti Arts. These rugs mixed traditional Kashmiri weaving methods with Australian Western Desert designs.

Tali Tali Pompey's art has been shown in many places across Australia. Most of these were group exhibitions with other artists. The Mossenson Galleries in Melbourne held two special shows just for her work. The first was in 2005. The second show was in 2012, after she had passed away. It featured some of her very last paintings.

You can find examples of her paintings in important places. These include the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia.