Thompson Jangala Brown was born in 1974, in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal community, 460 km north-west of Alice Springs in the Central Desert of Australia. Born into a well-known artist family, his father is Pegleg Jampijinpa, a successful Pintupi artists who passed away in early 2006 and his mother is Margaret Napangardi Brown, a successful artist with Warlukurlangu Artists. Thompson has two sisters, Joy Nangala Brown, who also paints for Warlukurlangu Artists, and Ada Nangala Brown. Thompson began his schooling at the local school in Nyirripi and completed his studies at Yirara College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. When he finished his studies, in 1989, he returned to Nyirripi where he worked for a long time as a council worker for the Central Desert Shire. Thompson now has the opportunity and time to paint with Warlurkurlangu Artist Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs. Thompson paints his Father’s and Grandfather’s Jukurrpa stories. These Dreamings were passed down to him by his father, and his father’s father before him for millennia. They relate directly to the land and its features, and the plants and animals that live on it. When Thompson is not working or painting he plays football for Nyirripi and also likes to hunt with his family for kangaroo, goanna and turkey.
