Elizabeth Close is a multi-disciplinary First Nations visual artist and muralist, a proud Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman, currently residing on Kaurna Country (South Australia).
2015
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unique products made for impact
Introduction
Elizabeth Close is an Anangu woman from the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Language Groups, whose family links are to the communities of Pukatja and Amata in the APY Lands. Elizabeth was born in Adelaide but grew up in outback South Australia, returning to Adelaide to complete her secondary schooling and attend university to complete a Bachelor of Nursing. In 2007, Elizabeth began to paint professionally and exhibit her work throughout Adelaide.
Her practice organically grew as she balanced nursing, art, and motherhood. By 2014, she had built up a full-time arts practice, and after the birth of their second child, Elizabeth and her family relocated to the APY Lands to reconnect with family, language, and culture, something that is profoundly reflected in the evolution of her work.
Currently, Elizabeth is a mid-career Aboriginal Visual Artist living and working on Unceded Kaurna Country. She has spent the past two decades crafting a dynamic and bold multi-disciplinary arts practice that speaks to the politics of Aboriginality, her own personal connection to Country, and the concept of connection to place and space more broadly. More specifically, it explores how these connections relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relationships with the landscape and ways of being and knowing. She works primarily in the mediums of 2D arts, large-scale public art, and digital media, and thrives in experimentation and challenge.
"I have spent the past two decades crafting a dynamic and bold multi-disciplinary arts practice that speaks to the politics of Aboriginality, my own personal connection to Country, and the concept of connection to place and space more broadly."
Work with Elizabeth
Custom art commissions are available. Collaborating with you to conceive a unique composition, size and colour palette, Elizabeth is dedicated to creating an artwork that resonates with your business or cause.
For more information contact Life Apparel and we will get you in touch with Elizabeth.
Story: Ninti Pulka (Pitjantjatjara for “learned, knowledgeable, very smart”) is inspired by the passing down of knowledge, strength, and resilience from our Old People to our emerging leaders and future custodians of the land, water, history, culture, stories, and lore. It reflects our ways of teaching, sharing, and growing, embodying the strength instilled in us so that we may walk forward in the footsteps of our Elders and continue the legacy of the world’s oldest living culture.
Wintjiri
Wintjiri
Medium: Digital Illustration Year: 2021
Story: Wintjiri is the Pitjantjatjara word for an expanse of Country. This work is about the Country that stretches as far as the eye can see and as far as the spirit can feel. Country can heal us as much as we can heal it. This work speaks to our ability to look after Country through cultural means, such as traditional fire management and other methods of care. It also speaks to Country and its ability to heal us. This relationship is reciprocal. We are as much a part of Country as it is a part of us. Healing Country is healing ourselves, and healing ourselves is healing Country.
Inma
Inma
Medium: Acrylic On Canvas Year: 2016
Story: Inma in the Pitjantjatjara language means “song,” “dance,” and “ceremony.” The Anangu people have Inma to celebrate, as a form of prayer, and for ceremonies where they dance and sing. This artwork represents the movement and colour of Inma, capturing the ethereal and sacred nature of Anangu ceremony. They move, sing, and express their dreaming and songlines through Inma, embodying the stories and designs of the Tjukurpa (Ancestral Law, or Dreamtime). The ceremony carries camaraderie, joy, playfulness, and seriousness, and may last for hours.
Songline
Songline
Medium: Acrylic On Canvas Year: 2015
Story: The concept of Songlines is deeply important to the Anangu; the Pitjantjatjara people, and to many other language groups. Songlines follow the landscape and depict the dreaming of that place, telling the story of how that landscape came to be and the Aboriginal connection to the land itself through the dreaming. Songlines might follow a creation-being through the landscape, creating sacred places in their wake, like the Seven Sisters, a celestial tale that narrates the journey of seven sisters, represented by the stars. Songlines are vital as they document our connection to the land in song, or inma (ceremonial song and dance), ensuring that the stories are passed down to the next generation.
Life Apparel is an approved signatory of the Indigenous Art Code. This ensures ethical trading, integrity, transparency, and accountability in dealings with First Nations Artists. The code empowers artists, supporting them in achieving fair and transparent commercial opportunities for their art.
We are strong champions of ethical practices in the industry and see the voluntary Code of Conduct as a pivotal means to achieve this, reinforcing our commitment to fostering a culture of respect and fairness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists.
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Acknowledgement Of Country
Life Apparel celebrates and acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh Language Region. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging for their generosity and custodianship of Country throughout Australia.
We recognise and honour the ongoing connection and deep spiritual relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have to this Country, and acknowledge the unique role they play in caring for and protecting it for future generations. As an Australian-led boutique label and proud allies, we demonstrate our respect for First Nations peoples through our commitments to environmentally sustainable and ethical business practices. We recognise their continuing connection to land and waters, and thank them for protecting our natural resources and ecosystems.
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