Yaritji Heffernan

Yaritji is a “bush baby,” born at Mulga Park Station near Ernabella. She has fond memories of growing up at the Ernabella Mission School, where she lived alongside many women who now paint in Adelaide. Her parents were both Pitjantjatjara; her father was from Angkatja and her mother from Umutju.

Yaritji married an Arrernte man near Alice Springs and can speak some Arrernte and Anmatyerr, as well as Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. She is a skilled artist who first learned to paint walka wiru (beautiful design-based works) in the Ernabella craft room during the 1970s.

In addition to painting, Yaritji worked with batik silks, tapestries, hooked floor rugs, oil painting, and ceramics. She recalls winning first and second prizes at the Alice Springs Show for her artworks as a young woman. More recently, through the NPY Women’s Council, she learned to weave tjanpi (baskets), mukata (beanies), and hand-painted seed necklaces. She has also facilitated arts workshops in Darwin and Adelaide.