Jocelyn Napanangka Frank

Jocelyn Napanangka Frank was born in 1985 in Mt Allan, a remote Aboriginal community 280 km northwest of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Linny Nampijinpa Frank and grand-daughter of Frank Japanangka, the keeper of the Yuelamu site and leading figure in the Mount Allan community. Jocelyn grew up in Mount Allan and attended the local school. She is a single parent, has one son born in 2007, and for some years was responsible for looking after her mother Linny Nampijinpa. Jocelyn later moved to Yuendumu, and since then, has been painting on a regular basis at the Art Centre.

Jocelyn has always liked painting, and began painting music sticks and coolamons. In 2010 she began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs. She paints her Karnta Jukurrpa (Women’s Dreaming); Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming); and in recent years, Lukarrara Jukurrpa (Desert Fringe-rush Seed Dreaming). Stories passed down through the generations for millennia, and relating directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Jocelyn incorporates into her paintings a monochromatic palette, using traditional motifs, and her own ideas of modern design.

When she is not painting, she is looking after her teenage son and attending community events.