Chantelle Nampijinpa Robertson

Chantelle Nampijinpa Robertson was born in 1996 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. She began her education at Worawa Aboriginal College, an indigenous girls boarding school in Melbourne and finished her schooling at Yuendumu High School in 2010. Although young, Chantelle comes from a long line of artists. She is the daughter of Justinna Napaljarri Sims and Marshall Jangala Robertson, who paint with Warlukurlangu Artists and is the great grand-daughter of Paddy Japaljarri Sims (Dec) one of the founding artists of Warlukurlangu Artists. Chantelle has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2008. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa, stories which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her father and his father for generations. Chantelle particularly likes Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming). “I like the water dreamings, the patterns and the nice colours.” When she is not painting she likes to watch movies with her friends and “my little brothers, Marshall and Alonzo Robertson”.