Biography

Mavis was born at New Haven. She is the sister of Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Smithy Zimran Tjampitjinpa. Her sisters Yuyuya Nampitjinpa and Gina Nampitjinpa are from the same birth mother and father (Tjangala). She enjoys traveling to Kintore to visit with her sister Yuyuwa. Gina lives in Alice Springs and Mavis is able to see her regularly. She moved to Haasts Bluff as a teenager with her mother. When she married she moved to Mt Liebig with her husband and began to paint at the art centre there. Mavis returned to Haasts Bluff at the death of her husband, later moving to Papunya. Mavis likes to paint the Ceremonial Dancing of ladies at Mt Liebig, and represents their body painting designs. She also paints the story given to her by her grandfather of Kalipinpa, the Water Dreaming, which comes from her mother’s side. She has raised five children as her own, and her daughter, Sylvana Marks, is also an artist.