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Martumili Artists work with over three hundred artists from remote Martu Aboriginal communities, including Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine), and Warralong, as well as from the Parnpajinya (Newman) gallery and studio spaces. Known for their diverse, energetic, and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands. Each artist, however, brings a unique approach to their craft.

Younger Martu artists often start painting alongside their parents, grandparents, and extended family, which fosters an organic learning process. This not only involves mastering painting techniques but also understanding specific locations, family histories, traditional ways of life, bush tucker, and Jukurrpa (Dreaming). Over time, with encouragement from their peers, they develop their own distinct styles and explore unique painting techniques and subject matter. In this work the artist brings a contemporary, evolving perspective to their work.

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Helena Butt

Community: Bidyadanga

Biography:

“I was painting mostly around my dad. I seen my dad painting at Mangkaja (arts centre) at Fitzroy Crossing, and going out bush, and seeing places, and putting it down on canvas. Sometimes I paint before I see it. I didn’t think I could (paint) but I found that I had something in me. You got it in you, you hear that little voice, you have that, you have to find it for yourself. I did a small one (painting) the first time and then I kept going."
- Helena Butt

Helena was born in Derby in the West Australian Kimberly, and currently resides in Bidyadanga. She frequently visits Parnngurr Community where her Grandmother’s side of the family resides. Helena started painting in her thirties – having believed she was not artistic earlier in life – but she has quickly found and refined her style. She uses heavy blending and big brushwork to capture her ancestral homelands Kulyakartu.
Kulyakartu is located in the far north of the Martu homelands near the Percival Lakes region of Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. Helena often captures this landscape across the seasons.

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