Anne Dixon - Nomad Art

Artist: Anne Dixon
Art Centre: Tjanpi Desert Weavers
Region: Central Australia

Artwork Story

Anne was born in Alice Springs in 1965 and grew up in Ernabella. Her family live at the Pitjantjatjara communites of Fregon and Watarru. Anne has three children: one son and two daughters. She spends time between Watarru, where her extended family live, and Alice Springs, as her husband is a teacher at Yirara College.

Anne was inspired to learn the Tjanpi coiled basketry technique after watching her mother, Wipana Jimmy, and aunty, Tinpulya Mervin, practise this art form. Anne has a strong sculptural sensibility and her baskets are unique and interesting. Anne enjoys working on a large scale and experimencng with new styles. Her baskets and sculptures are highly sought after artworks. Anne has taken to producing flat sculptures with the same skilful eye and dexterity that she displays in her 3D works.

Anne is a member Tjanpi Desert Weavers, which began in 1995. Tjanpi (meaning grass) is an art centre that supports the production and marketing of baskets, sculptures and seed jewellery made by more than 400 artists from 28 remote communities across three states – Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Building on a long tradition of working with natural fibres to create objects for daily and ceremonial use, Tjanpi women come together on country and collect grass to sculpt and weave. While singing, dancing and keeping culture strong, they create beautiful, intricate and expressive fibre art.

Tjanpi works are unique, innovative and constantly evolving. The artists use a combination of native desert grasses, seeds, feathers, raffia, string and wool. The centre hosts a series of creative and technical skills development workshops with its artists, resulting in an array of intricate fibre art.

Tjanpi is a not-for-profit social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council. The NPY Women’s Council provides resources, advocacy and support for Aboriginal women living in remote communities across the Western and Central deserts. Profits from sales support this Aboriginal-owned and governed art centre. Tjanpi works with Aboriginal women and their communities across the NPY Lands – its purpose is to contribute to improving the lives of NPY women and their families by supporting cultural activity and employment through the creation of fibre art.

Tjanpi is represented in national and international public and private collections. In 2005, Tjanpi weavers from Papulankutja (WA) won the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award with their now famous Tjanpi Toyota.