In Her Own Words - Rhoda Tjitayi
Rhoda Tjitayi is one of the most significant painters working in the APY Lands today. Born in Pukatja (Ernabella) in South Australia, she paints the Dreaming stories of her family - stories passed down through generations of women, from grandmother to mother to daughter. We sat down with Rhoda at our Adelaide gallery to talk about her life, her art and what painting means to her.
On what made her want to be an artist
"I want to be artist because I got a family member - they artist. My Kami, my grandmother, and my mother. I can see my mother's work, and from my grandmother, and I want to be an artist."
For Rhoda, becoming an artist was never really a choice - it was an inheritance. Her grandmother and her mother both painted, and watching them as a child planted something that never left. "When I was going to boarding school, I was thinking - I always say, I want to be a artist when I grow up."
Kami is the Pitjantjatjara word for grandmother - a figure who sits at the centre of Rhoda's life and her art. "When I do painting, I can hear voice like grandma saying - no, no, no, you're doing it wrong way. Remember. And I miss my Kami so much."
On the stories she paints
Rhoda paints the Dreaming stories of her country - Seven Sisters, Honey Ant Dreaming, Caterpillar Dreaming and Piltati, the sacred waterhole at the heart of her family's country. These are not simply artistic subjects. They are living law, inherited knowledge and cultural responsibility passed through the women of her family.
"My mother drew the story about Caterpillar Dreaming, and Honey Ant Dreaming. That's Tjukurpa - Dreaming. It's really important for women. When they live in desert, they dig for honey ants. Long time ago, they make food - they put honey. Kids like to eat. Long time ago my families lived in the desert. They were healthy - no diabetes."
The stories Rhoda paints are inseparable from country, food, ceremony and survival. They describe a way of living on the land that sustained her people for generations - and they carry that knowledge forward into the present.
Piltati - the waterhole Rhoda is most associated with - is a place of deep cultural significance and restricted access. "When someone goes there, they throw rock. If you go there without asking, you will get sick. Only the family, people from there. It's the rules."
You can read more about the Dreaming traditions of the APY Lands on our What is the Dreaming page and our APY Lands page.
On painting and family memory
"When I do painting, I am so happy - and I am remembering my Kami. Because I love my Kami, I have been a lot of story from my grandmother. I used to look after my grandmother."
For Rhoda, painting is an act of memory as much as it is an act of creation. Her grandmother's voice is present every time she picks up a brush - guiding her colours, correcting her marks, keeping her connected to the stories and the country they come from.
"My Kami favourite colour is green. She tells me how to mix all the colour. When I do wrong, she say - wrong way. And I remember now. I am remembering my Kami. And now I am doing teaching my grandkids. My grandkids can have the story when I get old, when I pass away - my grandkids will have this Dreaming story everywhere."
This transmission - from grandmother to grandchild, from elder to younger - is the foundation of Aboriginal cultural practice. Rhoda is not just a painter. She is a carrier of knowledge, a link in a chain that stretches back through time and forward into the future. You can read more about this on our What is Aboriginal Art page.
On Teresa Baker Tunkin - cousin and teacher
When asked about her favourite artist, Rhoda's answer is immediate - her cousin sister, Teresa Baker Tunkin, one of the most celebrated painters currently working in the APY Lands and an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally including at the Fondation Opale in Switzerland.
"Teresa - she's famous, you know. She's very good. And sometimes I think, yeah, I'm learning. Because I'm big sister for Teresa, but I know she went everywhere, and I'm so happy."
Rather than rivalry, Rhoda describes a relationship of generosity and mutual support. Teresa continues to teach Rhoda even now - sharing the lessons of her own hard-won experience. "Teresa always teach me - don't put the colours long way. Put them always together. She says, because your painting and my painting different, but I'm telling you, always put the colour together - when they see from long way, hey, look."
"Your name will come up slowly, slowly. Everyone will say, Rhoda Tjitayi is famous."
On her greatest achievement
Without hesitation, Rhoda names her mural at the Art Gallery of South Australia as her proudest achievement. The mural - a large-scale work on the gallery wall - brought her family's Dreaming story into one of Australia's most significant cultural institutions.
"I done big painting on the wall. And that one is saying - come in, come and see my family story."
Rhoda has also had her work printed on a washing machine - a project that delighted her and speaks to the breadth of her vision for where her art can go. "That is my favourite. I chose a colour, and I draw first on a pencil, on a piece of paper. And they printed it on there. And one day I want to put it maybe on a bus."
On her work going around the world
"I feel sometimes nervous, but I feel happy when my painting goes to other places. I love it - going all over the world."
Knowing that her family's stories are now held in homes and collections across Australia, Europe and beyond moves Rhoda deeply. She describes a moment of being recognised in a shopping centre by a stranger who had seen her painting. "They said - I love your colours. I know your story - it's two rainbow serpents. I've been reading your stories. And I was so happy, because that's true - from our country."
On passing the stories on
"We teach. We come from country and water and family. Painting - sometimes my mum did story. No paper, pencil. You teach through painting. You teach through story."
Rhoda is already teaching her own daughters and grandchildren - passing on the same stories her grandmother passed to her. Her daughter Imiyari is learning to paint, named after her aunt Imiyari Adamson, herself a painter.
"I want maybe one day my grandkids, or my daughter, will do painting. I think they will. Because my daughter is learning how to paint."
On colour
Rhoda's paintings are known for their extraordinary use of colour - deep, vivid, layered. When asked what colour means to her, she has a beautiful answer.
"I like many colours. Because rainbow - when we see a rainbow, that's all the colours. Many colours. That's why I use so many different colours."
On wanting to work at Art by Farquhar
"I love this gallery. I wanted to come here and work. I live close. Slowly, slowly, because I do my story, Dreaming story. I can come here and work. It's been easier."
Rhoda's connection to Art by Farquhar is personal and ongoing. She paints here, she talks here, and she sees the gallery as a place where her stories are understood and respected.
About Rhoda Tjitayi
Rhoda Tjitayi is a Pitjantjatjara painter from Pukatja (Ernabella) in the APY Lands of South Australia. She paints the Dreaming stories of her country - including Piltati, Honey Ant, Caterpillar and Seven Sisters - inherited through her grandmother and mother and now being passed to her own children and grandchildren. Her work is held in significant collections in Australia and internationally.
Art by Farquhar is a member of the Australian Aboriginal Art Association. Every painting comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and full provenance documentation.