Artist

Accomplished acrylic and watercolour painter, Selma Nunay Coulthard, is from the Pertama Maduthara Luritja community from Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs Station), located southwest of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Born in Alice Springs, Coulthard spent her early childhood at Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs Station) until the Government forcibly removed her from her family and placed her in the mission boarding house at Ntaria (Hermannsburg) in Tjoritja (the West Macdonnell Ranges). 

In Ntaria Coulthard observed the artist Ivy Pareroultja painting in the Hermannsburg School style, a style she had seen the Hermannsburg School watercolourists practice at Titjarritjarra (Palm Valley), where her father worked. 

These experiences inspired Coulthard to commence her practice, painting the stories and landscapes to which she is connected, Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs); the oasis in the Desert at Urrampinyi; Running Waters at Irrmakara; and women’s ceremonial sites.

In 2021 Coulthard was announced as a finalist in both the Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize in Sydney, and the Lingiari Art Awards presented by Desart, Alice Springs. Her work is included in several national collections, including the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art (QAGoMA), Brisbane; the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney; and, Artbank, Sydney.

© The Artist, Iltja Njarra and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2024