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Born in 1967 in Alice Springs, Trephina is a proud Luritja woman who grew up with many uncles,
aunties and cousins. She was the only child in her family.
Trephina’s painting talents started at a very young age. As a
young girl she used to sit and watch her uncles, aunties, cousins and friends
paint for hours at a time. She would then pick up a stick and draw her art in
the dirt.
With her mother and aunty a big influence in her life, Trephina
went to the English speaking school at Alice Springs. Even though English became
Trephina’s first language, she was taught Luritja, the language of her family
and Elders at home. Trephina, in her own words, had the best of both worlds.
The language skill she acquired stood Trephina in good stead.
Acknowledged as a Luritja language specialist, she did work as an interpreter
and in conjunction with colleagues and the Alice Springs Institute for
Aboriginal Development, was a valuable contributor to an Aboriginal-English
dictionary.
For Trephina, her main love is painting. When asked what
inspires her artwork, she speaks about her connection to the ‘old people’. She
reveals that when she sits down in conversation with the elders, around the
fire, she is inspired by their heart, spirituality, land, songline and country.
It is this that she strives to capture in her art.
Many of Trephina’s early work is done in the classic
‘dot-style’. Although she still produces artwork in this style, Trephina like
many artists, has evolved. From the natural colours reflected in the landscape
of ‘Central Australia’ she has expanded to a larger palate of colours. Other
changes can also be seen in her work, as she moves from tentative brush work to
painting in masterful strokes of vibrant hues, producing some very popular works
such as ‘Tjanpi Kampanyi’ (Burning Grass), Kapi Nguru (From Water), and Kamiku
Ara (Grandmothers Way).
These beautiful works are evocative and captures the very
essence of Aboriginal culture. It was interesting to hear from Trephina, how the
style for her ‘Tjanpi Kampanyi’ had developed. She use to do it as a background
and really liked the brush strokes on it’s own. It evoked memories of her
past...
...for generations our people have burnt off the bush land
for hunting purposes, safety and regrowth.
New works are emerging from Trephina’s hands, reflecting her
passion for the abstract style, as can be seen in her ‘Bush Onions’, ‘Bush
Honey’, and Intanga (‘Grass Seed’). With many more ideas filling her head, and
the penchant for trying new ideas, Trephina’s looks set to surprise and please
the many fans of her works.
Trephina’s mother side of the family are ‘Desert People’, but her father side of
the family are ‘Saltwater People’ from the Gulf region of Normanton to Croydon.
Many of her works has been created under the name of Trephina Sultan, although
she still continues to use this name on different works, some of her works will
also bear her Aboriginal name of ‘Thanguwa’. The equivalent meaning in English
is ‘scent’.
Thanguwa is actually Trephina’s grandmothers name on her mothers side. Her
family and relatives started calling her Thanguwa when they could see how like
her grandmother she resembled, even down to the shyness. This shyness in
Trephina is balanced by the ability to be able to get up and talk, to not be
frightened and to challenge herself. Source:
Travel Australia with AusEmade - Trephina Sultan Thanguwa |
