Medeline Curley Biography

Madeline Curley, born in 1976, is a self-taught artist from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands and the daughter of acclaimed artist Imitjala Curley.

Madeline's work focuses on the section of the Dreaming narrative where the seven sisters travel across the arid landscape to escape the pursuing man, Nyiru. Roundels signify waterholes and rockholes where the sisters rested, while finely dotted, winding lines represent their desert journey. In 2019, one of her paintings was projected onto the Sydney Opera House during the Badu Gili Lighting the Sails project, thereby amplifying her national profile.

Madeline balances her bustling family life, married to Anthony Young with two sons, with her vibrant artistic career begun in the late 2010s. She typically works in acrylic on linen, often creating large-format canvases that convey a lyrical sense of movement and connection to Country.

Numerous key galleries and museums such as Japingka Gallery have featured Madeline's work.  Her talent has been recognised through exhibitions both in Central Australia and broader Australian galleries. Madeline Curley stands out as a powerful emerging voice in contemporary Indigenous art. Through her expressive vision, rooted cultural storytelling, and poetic abstraction, her work continues to strengthen the legacy of Pitjantjatjara women artists across the APY Lands.