Faith was born to Nutangka Bennett & Barney Ward at a place
called Mangatatjara, close to an extremely important sacred
site deep in the desert. Faith now lives in the small and remote
community of Tjukurla, where she paints the stories of her
country using the traditional Tjukurrpa and Tingarri designs
passed down to her. Faith is well respected in her community
as a knowledgeable Ngaanyatjarra woman. When Tjukurla was
still a small outstation of Kaltukatjara, there was no
infrastructure or services. The responsibility of teaching the
children in daily classes was given to Faith. Faith is also a
skilled basket weaver and purnu (wooden artefact) carver, and
in recent years has expanded her practice to include silk
painting and other textile creations. Faith has an aptitude for
colour selection, and her canvases are strongly composed and
carefully executed. She has been painting with Tjarlirli Art
almost since its inception, and is a key and longstanding
member of the organisation.
Faith’s spirituality is a deep and essential part of her, and she is
a significant dancer for inma, women’s ceremonies. This
cultural knowledge is embedded in her practice, and she often
sings songs from her country while working and takes every
opportunity to return to country and spend time painting and
conducting ceremonies in the bush. Faith also holds family
connections to many of the other senior artists, granting her the
cultural and familial knowledge to speak to the broader
practices of Tjarlirli artists. Her own works capture the music
and movement that she brings to the studio and her every day.
Faith’s paintings sing with the stories linking countless
generations of women to one another in the desert lands, and
celebrate the joys of connectedness to country and people.
Information courtesy Tjarlirli and Kaltukatjara Art (c)