Level 6-7 stairway

Stop at Home by Sally Mulda

Born at Titjikala, Sally has lived in Alice Springs since she married some thirty years ago. After losing the use of her left arm in a childhood accident, Sally later faced the challenge of losing her sight. Sally's vision has been partially restored in one of her eyes through surgery. Widowed and without children, Sally lives with friends and extended family.

Having never painted before joining Tangentyere Artists, Sally has grown in confidence to create her own rich and fluid figurative style that celebrates her ‘place’ in the world. Sally applies layers of vibrant colour in broad brush to depict her domestic environment - a tap dripping into a bowl for the dogs; children playing; men and women sitting in the shade occasionally playing cards and sometimes drinking. Mulda records those interactions that constitute life for so many Aboriginal people today, which leads inevitably to interaction with the police. The minutiae explored in Mulda’s work goes as far as detailing the changes to the Northern Territory police uniform from khaki to navy blue in early 2012.

Mulda records events she witnesses and experiences without bias or any kind of judgement of the subjects. It is as it is. In effect, her oeuvre represents a journalistic approach to local situations. This is especially pertinent in that many of her paintings include text that explains each scene in strong and simple language. This form of social commentary on the daily lives of town camp residents in Alice Springs represents an important catalogue of lived experiences that capture these events for posterity.

Sally explains 'us grownups sitting one side, all'a kids playing and making noise on the other, all'a dogs - big - little - all running round, making noise, all feeling good for home, you know?' More recently, Sally has begun painting about life since the Intervention. Her paintings include text and images that represent fascinating insights into life today in Central Australia. Sally was a finalist in the Telstra 2012 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, and was the winner of the 2011 'Rights on Show' Annual Human Rights Art Award and Exhibition.

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