Theo (Faye) Nangala Hudson

Theo (Faye) Nangala Hudson

DOB: 1989
Born: Alice Springs, NT
LANGUAGE: Warlpiri
COMMUNITY: Nyirripi, NT

Theo (Faye) Nangala Hudson was born in 1989 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal community located 440 km north-west of Alice Springs, where her parents lived. Theo worked in various jobs after leaving school at 14 years of age. Later, she joined the Nyirripi Night Patrol, a service that provides safe transportation, diversion from contact with the criminal justice system, and intervention to prevent disorder in communities. Theo is married and has three children.

Theo began painting with the Warlukurlangu Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu in 2002, when she was 13 years of age, after having watched her Grandmother paint and listen to her stories. Theo eventually began to paint in earnest with the art centre in 2006. Warlukurlangu makes regular visits to Nyirripi to drop off canvas, paint and brushes for the artists and to collect finished artwork.

Theo paints her mother's Jukurrpa (Dreamings) and her father's Jukurrpa, such as Yuparli Jukurrpa (Bush Banana Dreaming) from her mother's side and Pikilyi Jukuurpa (Vaughan Springs Dreaming) from her father's side - Dreamings have been passed down through the millennia. Theo usually depicts in her artwork the Ngurlu Jukurrpa (Native Seed Dreaming) or the Yumari Jukurrpa (Yumari Dreaming). Yumari is a collection of rocks to the West of Kintore in the Gibson Desert. It is the site of a forbidden love union between a Japaljarri man and a Nangala woman.

Theo is quickly developing a reputation for creating bold, vibrant and eye-catching works of art. She confidently uses vivid colour combinations with traditional iconography in an original and distinctive manner .

Theo's artwork is bound to bring that 'wow' factor to any interior.

When Theo is not painting and looking after her family she likes to go hunting for Yurrampi (honey ants) and Yuparli (bush banana).