Carlene was born in the Great Victoria Desert in the 1940s at a place called Tjitjiti. Carlene spent her childhood with her immediate family group and like many Spinifex people at the time, walked in from the desert to Cundeelee Mission to escape a long period of drought as well as British nuclear testing at Maralinga. At the age of around 12 as Carlene remembers it she embraced mission life to a large degree but always travelled back to country for ceremonial cycles.
In 1997 when the Spinifex Arts Project began Carlene was one of the first artists to embrace the project, already having been a prolific maker of decorated artifacts. She continues to paint on bush trips and has travelled to the many Spinifex exhibitions around Australia. Carlene has also travelled overseas visiting Europe in 2002 as part of a touring theatre production about her people and homelands.
As part of the Spinifex Mapping Project in 2007 a new road was graded into Tjitjiti allowing traditional owners to revisit important sites and birthplaces. Carlene is keen to travel back to Tjirtjiti to revisit an area she last saw as a kungka (girl).
Carlene was born in the Great Victoria Desert in the 1940s at a place called Tjitjiti. Carlene spent her childhood with her immediate family group and like many Spinifex people at the time, walked in from the desert to Cundeelee Mission to escape a long period of drought as well as British nuclear testing at Maralinga. At the age of around 12 as Carlene remembers it she embraced mission life to a large degree but always travelled back to country for ceremonial cycles.
In 1997 when the Spinifex Arts Project began Carlene was one of the first artists to embrace the project, already having been a prolific maker of decorated artifacts. She continues to paint on bush trips and has travelled to the many Spinifex exhibitions around Australia. Carlene has also travelled overseas visiting Europe in 2002 as part of a touring theatre production about her people and homelands.
As part of the Spinifex Mapping Project in 2007 a new road was graded into Tjitjiti allowing traditional owners to revisit important sites and birthplaces. Carlene is keen to travel back to Tjirtjiti to revisit an area she last saw as a kungka (girl).