Teddy Jakamarra Gibson was born in the late 60s in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. He is the son of Nancy Napanangka Gibson, a respected artist who also paints with Warlukurlangu Artists. Teddy has two sisters and two brothers. He attended the local school in Yuendumu and in his late teens moved to Nyirripi, an Aboriginal community 160 km north-west of Yuendumu, with his mother. Teddy is married to Gayle Napangardi Gibson and they have three daughters and 5 grandchildren.
Teddy Jakamarra has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2006. Warlukurlangu makes regular visits to Nyirripi to drop off canvas, paint and brushes for the artists and to collect finished artwork. He paints his Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings from his father’s side, in particular Dreamings that relate directly to his land—a site west of Nyirripi in the ‘tali’ sandhill country close to the Gibson Desert, south of Lake McKay—its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Teddy uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of his traditional culture, building on traditions that stretch back at least fifty millennia.
When Teddy is not painting he likes to go hunting with his family. He especially likes to go hunting for goanna and honey ants.
