Kershini Napaljarri Collins

Kershini was born 1996 in Alice Springs, NT. She lives and paints in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs. When both her parents died early in her life, she and her siblings went to live with her aunty Alma Nangala Robertson who also paints at the Art Centre. She attended school in Yuendumu, and would sometimes paint at the art centre during her school holidays. She began painting regularly with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, in 2014.

Kershini has a good grounding in painting, watching her family paint and listening to her stories since she was a child. She paints Ngatijirri Jukurrpa (Budgerigar Dreaming) and Marlu Jukurrpa (Kangaroo Dreaming). These Dreamings are located at Jila (Chilla Well), a claypan to the west of Yuendumu. These Dreamings were passed on to Kershini from her father and Aunties. Kershini uses traditional iconography, while developing a modern individualistic style to depict her traditional Jukurrpa.