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Savoury Creek

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: Albert Pilkington

Language: Putijarra

Community: Jigalong

Biography:

“I was born in Kununoppin, in the wheatbelt. Left school when I was 15 and worked on cattle stations for 16 years, in the Pilbara, up through the Kimberleys, and back. My Grandfather is from east of Jigalong he didn’t see a whitefella until he was 18.
I started painting out of curiosity at first, and when I finished my first one I realised that I really liked doing it. I get a lot of inspiration from my love for country. I can’t get enough of it sometimes. I’ll be sitting at home and just get up in the car for a cruise, just to see the country. Now I’m up here I like to use earthy colours, colours of country. A lot of my painting is from memory. Been out here many times. Spent a lot of time out on this country. When I come back I want to pull up on the boundary and roll in the dirt. Walk outside, look around, get the colours, I love the colours.”
- Albert Pilkington

Albert is a Milankga man who speaks Martu Wangka. He was born in Kununoppin, but grew up in Geraldton where he lived with his mother and father. His mother Doris Pilkington was born in Belfour Downs Station and wrote the novel Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence which the 2002 film Rabbit-Proof Fence was based on.
After leaving school at the age of 15 Albert worked on cattle stations in the north of Western Australia for the next 16 years. He then returned to school as a mature age student, completing a Bachelor of Science at Murdoch University, and his Masters of Applied Epidemiology at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Today Albert lives in Newman with his daughter - one of his six children.
While Albert has only recently begun painting he has found an immediate love for it and is deeply inspired by the colours of his country. When he is not painting, he loves to horse riding or hunting for bush tucker. Bush turkey and goanna are his favourite.

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