Teresa Baker (b. 1977, Alice Springs, Pitjantjatjara) is an established artist from the Kanpi region of the APY Lands in South Australia who began painting in 2005 at the Tjungu Palya Art Centre under the mentorship of her grandfather Jimmy Baker, and she draws on her lineage—daughter of Kay Baker—to depict sacred women’s stories like the Minyma Marlilu Tjukurrpa, using bold colour, negative space and rock-hole iconography.
Her daughter, Clarise Tunkin (b. 1993, Alice Springs; from Kanpi, APY Lands), learned directly from Teresa and paints the same Dreaming of Minyma Marlilu and country sites linked to their family heritage; since launching her own practice in 2012 she has been celebrated as a “rising star” in the next generation of APY women artists.
Together they work within a continuum of family storytelling and country — Teresa hard-wired into elders’ knowledge, Clarise bringing fresh energy and palette — making their collaboration a bridge between generations and a vibrant visual representation of matrilineal culture, country and ceremony.
