Sylvannia Spencer

Sylvannia Spencer, skin name Nungarrayi, is the granddaughter of a pioneer woman of Warnayaka Art, Lily Hargraves. For a young artist, Nungarrayi has developed her own path of artistic success and received widespread acclaim for the detailed and intricate patterning that is a feature of her work.

As a young teenager, Nungarrayi learnt the stories of her Jukurrpa (Dreaming) from Lily Hargraves. Nungarrayi spent years under Lily’s tutelage, learning to bring the Tanami desert and the stories of creation to life through painting.

Nungarrayi has refined her techniques and developed her own unique style that has enabled her artwork to become highly sought after. Typically, she paints the Jukurrpa of goanna, her father’s story. She favours shades of deep red and brown, the predominant colours of the desert.

Her artwork is instantly recognisable for its presence of fine detailed markings that represent the patterning of a goanna’s skin and its footprints in the sand.

Much of Nungarrayi’s respect and education of Country came from the stories and skills she learnt from family at her ancestral homeland, Yartula Yartula, which lies approximately 350 kilometres south of her home in Lajamanu.