Artist

Maringka Burton was born in 1950 near the site of the Anumara Piti Tjukurpa (Caterpillar Dreaming), south of Irrunytju (Wingellina) in Western Australia. Burton is a respected senior artist and a highly regarded ngangkari (traditional healer), having been guided in this practice by her father Charlie Tjalkuriny, and she travels extensively to work alongside doctors and nurses to support Anangu patients in hospitals and clinics.

Burton maintains a prolific artistic practice across painting and tjanpi (native grass) weaving. In 2020 and 2021, a selection of works on paper by Burton in collaboration with fellow senior Iwantja artist Betty Muffler featured in the 2020 Tarnanthi, Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

In 2021 Burton and Muffler presented new work at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, as part of The National 2021: New Australian Art and were both announced as finalists for the 2021 Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for their collaborative work Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country).  

In 2023 Burton was named as finalist in the prestigious Hadley’s Art Prize, a significant $100,000 acquisitive Australian landscape prize presented by the Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania. She is also currently included in the Art Gallery of South Australia’s major touring exhibition, Tarnanthi on Tour: Kungka Kuṉpu, showcasing major contemporary works by celebrated women artists from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands from 2022 – 2024 and presented new work with Betty Muffler in Minyma ngali ngangkari kutjara - We two women are healers at Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne.

© The Artist, Iwantja Arts and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2023