Desmond Taylor

"I'm Desmond Taylor. I'm a Purungu man. My Country is Karlamilyi. Who taught me how to paint? My father taught me, my mother. The story I paint is about Karlamilyi, the Country where my ancestors lived and walked and gathered food.

My favourite thing to do outside of painting is go looking for bush tucker, bush medicine, going hunting, collecting fire wood, getting back in touch with the Country. I feel pukurlpa (happy), I feel happy when I paint. It brings happiness, connection, family. It keeps the stories alive to have that connection to ngurra (home Country, camp) Country."

- Desmond Taylor

Desmond was born in 1964 close to the bed of the Oakover River. Two years later his family moved into Jigalong - they were amongst the last Martu to live entirely in the desert without access to rations. Desmond went to school in Nullagine and Perth, and now works as a professional translator and educator as well as an artist. Desmond primarily paints his family's Country around Karlamilyi (Rudall River) and the creation stories for that Country, especially the Nyayartakujarra (Ngayarta Kujarra, Lake Dora) Dreaming.