Shirley 'Yumala' Collins

Shirley Collins (Yumala = eldest sister) was born in Mt Isa in the 1950s. She is a Kalkadoon woman through her mother Jean Rankine, and a member of the Pitta Pitta people through her father Alf Mayo. From the age of five, Collin’s was placed in the Carramar Children’s Home, a Government run orphanage where she lived until she was 14 years old and returned to live with her father on country. Her father was a guiding influence sharing stories about culture and traditional homelands. Collins gets her inspiration for art and storytelling from living on country as a child with her father, who taught her about the animals, plants, bush tucker and medicines, and the constellations. She has been exhibiting since 2008 and recently began working with fibres to create unique contemporary artefacts.