Esmerelda Kulitja is the daughter of well known artist Rene Kulitja and granddaughter of renowned wood carvers Topsy Tjulyata and Walter Pukutiwara. As a school student with Nyangatjatjara Aboriginal College she painted with Walkatjara Art and did her first painting for Maruku in February, 2007. Esmerelda grew up in the Mutitjulu Community in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park where her family was strongly involved in traditional land management, tourism and the arts. More recently she has been living in her father’s country at Docker River.