Margarina Napangka Miller was born in Darwin the closest hospital to Lajamanu, an Aboriginal community in semi-arid country on the edge of the Tanami Desert, halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs. She grew up in Lajamanu and attended the local school before going to Yirara high school in Alice Springs. She is the daughter of Liddy Nampijinpa Miller and Johnny Japangardi Miller. When Margarina was twelve years old her parents separated and her Mum stayed in Lajamanu and her father moved to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. When Margarina finished school she went to live in Lajamanu but would often visit her father in Yuendumu. On one such trip she met and married Stephen Wilson, where they now permanently live. She is a devoted mother to her three children, 2 sons and 1 daughter. For a number of years she worked full time at the local Aboriginal Childcare Centre, Kurdu Kurdu Kurlangu where she was a valued staff member. She also worked at the primary school as Assistant Teacher for a few years. She has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Art Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 1999. She used to listen to mother’s stories and her mother’s father’s story as she watched her Mum paint. Her father also past down his father’s stories. Her Aunty, Coral Napangardi Gallagher, her father’s little sister, also paints with Warlukurlangu Artist, and it was she who taught her to paint her father’s stories. Margarina paints her Wanakiji Jukurrpa (Bush Tomato Dreaming) and Yarla Jukurrpa (Bush Potato Dreaming) stories that relate to Mount Theo country where her grandfather’s dreaming is. When Margarina is not painting she enjoys going out bush to visit her traditional country and to hunt. She also enjoys cleaning and making her home look nice.
