Grace Napangardi Butcher

Gracie Napangardi Butcher formerly Florrie Napangardi Jones was born in 1967 in Yuendumu, a remote community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

When young, Florrie moved to Alice Springs with her family. She attended Yirara College in Alice Springs and the Institute for Aboriginal Development (Aboriginal Corporation), where she studied Spoken and Written English. She wanted to learn more and to read and write.

Florrie began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, in 1987, but it wasn’t until 2008, when she returned to Yuendumu, to be near her family that she began painting full time.

Both her sister Mary Napangardi Butcher and her Aunty Daisy Napanangka Nelson (1930 - 2001) are well-known artists and together they would often paint on the same piece of artwork. Florrie paints her Pikilyi Jukurrpa stories: Pikilyi is a sacred water hole that never dries out. These Dreamings depict country and describe journeys across the land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her from her father’s side and have been passed down for millennia. Florrie loves to paint as it connects her to her culture. When she is not painting she looks after her daughter and spends time with her family.

Biography courtesy of Warlukurlangu Artists