Jennifer Forbes

Jennifer Forbes was born in October 1958 and comes from Pukatja (formerly known as Ernabella) in South Australia. Her country is the Ngaanyatjarra lands, which is between the Western Desert and the Great Victoria Desert. It is here were her home of the Papulankutja Aboriginal community is found nestled in Blackstone ranges.

Jennifer Forbes relocated to Alice Springs for health reasons, but has continued to paint her Dreaming stories as a way to remain connected to her land, community and culture. For Jennifer, art depiction is an enjoyable pastime with great cultural significance.

Central Art has an intriguing work by Jennifer titled “Crow Dreaming”, using traditional iconography Jennifer has depicted the ancestral Dreamtime story of the Crow, which is passed down through particular families in the Ngannyatjarra people. The crow is an ancestral being commonly referred to as a jokster or trickster. Ultimately the Crow is known for his role in bringing fire to mankind. Jennifer uses traditional colours such as brown, white and black. Aboriginal people used ochre rocks to create natural paints for many years; the rocks would be ground down to a powder with some liquid added to make a paste. This was then used on bodies and caves to depict stories or used in ceremonies.