Nancy Ross Nungurrayi was born around 1935 in Karrku, a large hill south of Kiwirkurra about 800 kilometers west of Alice Springs. Nancy was the sister of Naata Nungurrayi and George Tjungurrayi. She and her family were among the last groups of Aboriginal people brought in from the ‘bush’ to Papunya by the Native Welfare patrol. Until her death, Nancy and her family lived in Kintore.
Nancy painted complex series of patterns that depict the holy places from the "Dream Time" (Tjukurrpa) around her traditional homeland. The concentric circles refer to specific locations that are used for ceremonies. The parallel lines that connect these circles are called "songlines" created by the mythical ancestors (Tingari) of the Aboriginal people. These songs are sung during the journey from one holy place to another. For the indigenous Australians they are the living proof of the eternal presence of these spiritual beings.
One of the main sites, often painted by her sister Naata as well, is called ‘Marrapinti’. Here, the women of the ’Dream Time’ gathered for various ceremonies during the creation of the earth. They were looking for a local kind of tomato called ’kumparapara’, which they grinned into a paste and baked in hot coals. In Nancy’s work, the women are represented by a ’U’ shape and the background colors and patterns represent different aspects of the landscape, like sand dunes and rocky outcrops called ’tali’ and ’puli’ respectively.
Nancy also painted the story of ‘Karrku’, her birth place. ’Karrku’ refers to a red ocher color. In many of Nancy’s paintings we see women who are grining ‘wangunu’
a traditional grass seed used for the preparation of special bread. The landscape with its sandy hills (tali) and rocks (puli) is often shown with curved linear patterns.
Nancy’s work is represented in a number of renowned museums and galleries like the Flinders Art Museum, Flinders University, Adelaide; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, but also in numerous private and corporate collections around the world.