Spinifex Hill Studio
Spinifex Hill Studio stands on Kariyarra Country in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. We are home to one of the youngest Aboriginal art collectives in the north-west of Australia, the Spinifex Hill Artists.
Our story began in 2008 when South Hedland-based artists Irene Coffin, Max George, and members of the Mothers Against Drugs group approached non-profit cultural organisation FORM to request help in facilitating community workshops and professional development for the town’s Aboriginal artists.
Naming themselves the Spinifex Hill Artists (after an old name for Port Hedland), the group held their first solo exhibition, Before the Town Got Big, at Port Hedland’s Courthouse Gallery in 2009.
Over the next five years, the Spinifex Hill Artists continued to develop artistically and professionally. In March 2014, the group took up residence in a purpose-built home in South Hedland, the Spinifex Hill Studio. This was made possible through FORM’s long-term partnership with BHP and the Federal Government’s Regional Development Australia Fund, with the land being donated by the Department of Lands.
In 2021, the Spinifex Hill Project Space was built as a place for the local community and visitors to connect with the Pilbara’s dynamic creative practice, and to further the preservation and promotion of the local culture, heritage, and traditions. Designed by Officer Woods Architects and built by Cooper&Oxley, the Spinifex Hill Project space is a welcome addition to Spinifex Hill Studio.
Artworks
Artist Profile/s
Nyangulya Katie Nalgood
(
)
Born in
Born
Liveringa Station, Kimberley
Lives in
Skin:
Language:
Walmajarri
‘I was born in Liveringa Station in the Kimberley – you come to the Myroodah river crossing then you’re there. I grew up there and went to school at Camballin, then I went to Derby High School and then to boarding school at Sir James Mitchell in Mount Lawley.
I came back to Camballin to finish my school there. I been coming up and back, Kimberley to Port Hedland. I like coming here to [do] art: keeping busy, better than sitting at home. Painting and relaxing, that’s why I like coming here.
Birds are the first things we see, you know, when we wake up. See and hear. Birds are like roosters to us, they wake us up in the mornings. And when the sun goes down they go to sleep and we go to sleep. You know us old people start and finish the day with the birds. That’s everyday life between birds and humans, you know. That’s what I think about anyway.’
Nyangulya Katie Nalgood has a strong affinity with birds, the diverse feathered creatures filling her personal history as well as cultural life. They are as much a part of her Country as she is, and their songs are the sound memories of her home. Nalgood started out painting only the birds native to her Country in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, and collaborated with family members to help her sketch out their forms. Her technical skill has since become more refined, and she now works independently. Her imagination has also expanded, and she looks to birds from across Western Australia, finding inspiration in their different colours, forms, and personalities.
Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Studio
Nyangulya Katie Nalgood
(
)
Born in
Born
1946
Derby
Lives in
Looma : WA
Skin:
Nyapurru
Language:
Walmajarri
"I was born in Liveringa Station in the Kimberley. You come to the Myroodah River crossing, then you’re there. I grew up there and went to school at Camballin, then I went to Derby High School and then to boarding school at Sir James Mitchell in Mount Lawley. I came back to Camballin to finish my school there. I been coming up and back [ever since], Kimberley to Port Hedland. I like coming here to art; keeping busy, better than sitting at home. Painting and relaxing, that’s why I like coming here.. Birds are the first things we see, you know, when we wake up. See and hear. Birds are like roosters to us, they wake us up in the mornings. And when the sun goes down they go to sleep and we go to sleep. You know us old people start and finish the day with the birds. That’s everyday life between birds and humans, you know. That’s what I think about anyway.”
Nyangulya Katie Nalgood has a strong affinity with birds, the diverse feathered creatures filling her personal history as well as cultural life. They are as much a part of her Country as she is, and their songs are the sound memories of her home. Nyangulya started out painting only the birds native to her Country in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, and collaborated with family members to help her sketch out their forms. Her technical skill has since become more refined, and she now works independently. Her imagination has also expanded, and she looks to birds from across Western Australia, finding inspiration in their different colours, forms, and personalities.
Crystal Gardiner
(
)
Born in
Born
1988
Lives in
Skin:
Language:
My name is Crystal Gardiner and I was born 1988 in Derby. My father is William Gardiner and he’s from around Marble Bar and my mother [Nyagulya] Katie [Nalgood] is from around Looma in the Kimberley. When I was young I spent a lot of time just going up and down between Looma and [Port] Hedland, travelling round and camping out. I like the bush life. I like fishing and listening to family telling stories around the campfire, drawing on the ground. Sometimes it's Dreamtime stories and sometimes personal ones. I started doing animation and painting when I saw my Dad doing his paintings.