Susie Bootja Bootja

Susie Bootja Bootja's work tells stories about playing at the waterhole of Kaningarra, where she spent her youth. As a teenager she moved to the old mission at Balgo, where she worked in the kitchen. She was one of the first women to begin painting at Balgo, one year after her eldest son, Matthew Gill, started up the Balgo art centre in 1985 with sister Alice Dempsey. Susie's art is well known for her dual use of Western and traditional representations of country, and for her lively use of bright greens, pinks and sky blues. Her innovative dotted colour fields began in 1996 and she continued to develop her style each year up until her death in 2003. - Christine Nicholls, Yilpinji: Love Art and Ceremony