Debra Nangala McDonald

About The Artist

Debra McDonald Nangala, was born at Papunya Camp in 1963. She is the granddaughter of the late Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi (c.1920-1987), who was a Pintupi man from Lake MacDonald in the Gibson Desert, Central Australia.

In 1948 he moved to Haasts Bluff and Papunya, and both Debra and Shorty's stories refer to his country of Lake MacDonald.

Debra was married to the nephew of Turkey Tolson and son of the great female artist Mitjili. She was very close to Mitjili and when she passed, Debra inherited her designs.

Her paintings have been documented in Geoffrey & James Bardon's book "Papunya- A Place Made After the Story. The Beginning of the Western Desert Painting Movement".