Walka means design or pattern. Artists use this title to describe artworks that are pattern based rather than descriptive or telling a story.
Name: Michelle Lewis
Language: Pitjantjatjara
Community: Pukatja
Biography:
Michelle was born in Ernabella in 1983, where she went to school and later worked at the Ernabella Clinic.
Michelle is a rising star of the Ernabella Arts painting studio. Her mother is senior artist Atipalku Intjalki and her father is master punu (wood) maker Adrian Intjalki. Her sisters Langaliki and Lynette Lewis are both also very accomplished artists. Michelle began painting in 2017 and quickly developed an individual style based around her father's country at Makiri, east of Ernabella.
In 2025 one of Michelle's paintings was animated and projected onto the facade of Parliament House in Canberra for National Reconciliation Week in May and again fro NAIDOC week in July. Michelle's was only the third painting to have been illuminated onto Parliament House.
Michelle and her partner Dale Richards, who is a punu artist, have three children and they live in Ernabella.
Ngayuku Walka / My Design Walka means design or pattern. Artists use this title to describe artworks that are pattern based rather than descriptive or telling a story.
Ngayuku Walka / My Design Walka means design or pattern. Artists use this title to describe artworks that are pattern based rather than descriptive or telling a story.
Ngayuku Walka / My Design Walka means design or pattern. Artists use this title to describe artworks that are pattern based rather than descriptive or telling a story.