Ena Lane Napangardi

Ena Lane was born in Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji) in 1957. Her father was Tom Long Taltalpana Tjapanangka (later known as Long Tom) and her mother Molly (Marli) Napurrula. Molly’s country was Browns Bore while Tom belonged to the country at Upungka. Ena grew up at Haasts Bluff and married her first husband Peter Tjampitjinpa, with whom she had three sons, Chris Michael, Douglas and another who passed away. She later married Philip Lane Tjampitjinpa with whom she lives in Papunya. Ena’s father’s family came into Haasts Bluff from their country around Lubul in the 1920s. Later they moved to Papunya where Long Tom worked as a police tracker. He also taught Ena the stories of Lubul which she now paints in a style which builds on the way he famously painted it, although Ena said she had “taught myself” to paint. Her mother Molly also used to paint in Haasts Bluff although not in Kintore where she is now living. Ena attended school in Papunya but has never been employed until painting since 2008 for Papunya Tjupi Art Centre in Papunya. She works by herself and said she began painting because she was thinking she “might do something about my mother’s and father’s side. I wanted to carry on.”