Judith Pungarta Inkamala (b. 1947), senior potter, is an Arrernte woman who was born in Hermannsburg, 130 km west of Alice Springs. As a child she was friends with Albert Namatjira's granddaughter Gloria, and recalls watching the artist paint. Inkamala worked as a domestic where she learned to type and write stories about bush tucker, which were later reflected in her pottery designs. She joined the women's collective Hermannsburg Potters in 1993, initially working as an assistant to pottery teacher Naomi Sharp. In 1996, she was invited to Lombok, Indonesia to research pottery making techniques with the Sasak Potters. The designs for Inkamala's beautifully crafted pots, each topped with a lid adorned with a sculpture, draw inspiration from her life and her Arrente Country. Her works was included in the 2010 collaborative exhibition Meou Art: Exhibition of Australian Indigenous Art in Shanghai, China.
In 1999, Greg Weight photographed the Hermannsburg Potters and their work for a book about the collective. As Weight recalled in Australian Artists, the women worked hard in the pottery while their children attended the nearby school. He took this photograph of Inkamala during a trip with the women along the Finke River. 'Judith was returning from her walk when I photographed her standing in the sand of the Finke, in the country her ancestors have known for thousands of years.'
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2022
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