Alicka Napanangka Brown: Sharing Warlpiri Dreaming Stories from Australia’s Heart
Mainie Australia is honoured to collaborate with gifted young Warlpiri artist, Alicka Napanangka Brown, whose work embodies the enduring strength and beauty of one of the world’s oldest living cultures.
Born in 1998 in Alice Springs Hospital - the closest medical centre to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs - Alicka grew up surrounded by the language, traditions and stories of her people.
She is the daughter of artist Maria Nampinjinpa Brown and granddaughter of Wendy Nungarrayi Brown, both respected Warlpiri artists. Her sister, Antoinette Napanangka Brown, is also an esteemed artist.
Creativity is part of her family heritage - their art is a continuation of ancient cultural knowledge passed down from one generation to the next over tens of thousands of years.
Original Painting - Yarla Jukurrpa (Red Earth Dreaming)
A Journey Carried by Dreaming Stories
Alicka began painting at just 14 years old as part of Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, one of Australia’s most acclaimed Aboriginal-owned art centres.
Warlukurlangu is a vital cultural institution that supports the preservation of Warlpiri Country, community and traditional language.
It is here that Alicka refined her skills, developing a deeply personal artistic style that keeps alive traditional iconography while embracing bold contemporary patterns and expressive colour palettes.
Her works mainly share two culturally significant Dreaming stories:
- Yanjirlpirri Jukurrpa - Star Dreaming
- Yarla Jukurrpa - Bush Potato Dreaming
Both stories depict enduring relationships between people, land and ancestry - the spiritual foundations of Warlpiri life.
Red Earth Dreaming Australian Merino Wool Scarf
Yarla Jukurrpa
Alicka’s design featured in two exquisite garments in the Mainie wearable art collection - the Red Earth Dreaming Australian Merino Wool Scarf and the Cockatoo Creek Modal Scarf - is inspired by Yarla Jukurrpa, the Bush Potato Dreaming.
This Dreaming story comes from Cockatoo Creek, an important women’s gathering place east of Yuendumu where Warlpiri women dig for bush potatoes (yarla). These nutritious tubers grow beneath low, spreading plants and are found by spotting tiny cracks in the red desert soil. When cooked, they are soft, tasty and sustaining - a lifeline in Australia’s arid interior.
The story tells of the harvesting of the bush potato (yarla) and the bush carrot (wapirti) - food sources and land that are integral to survival.
Original Painting - Yarla Jukurrpa (Cockatoo Creek Dreaming)
In Warlpiri art:
- Curved ceremonial lines represent the plant’s vine-like tendrils
- Flowers are symbolised as jinjirla
- Straight lines show karlangu - digging sticks used by women to gather bush foods
These symbols teach, preserve and honour the important role of women as custodians of Country.
For Alicka and her community, art is not simply creative expression - it is cultural memory, identity and survival.
Wearable Art with Heart
Mainie’s mission is to support Aboriginal artists and art centres to continue cultural practices and share First Nations stories with the world.
Our collaboration with Warlukurlangu artists like Alicka transforms traditional storytelling into modern statement pieces, each ethically produced using premium natural textiles.
Red Earth Dreaming Australian Merino Wool Scarf
Red Earth Dreaming – Australian Merino Wool Scarf
Woolmark-certified luxury crafted from the world’s finest Merino wool. Inspired by sun-baked desert Country - rich reds and earthy ochres evoke the warmth and strength of the land
Cockatoo Creek – Modal Scarf
Lightweight and breathable, ideal for travel and warm climates. A youthful, vibrant interpretation of Yarla Jukurrpa, bursting with movement and life
Each piece comes with the artwork provenance, artist biography and Dreaming story - so wearers can proudly share the story they are carrying.
Honouring Culture. Celebrating Story. Empowering Art.
Due to the isolation of their ancestral homelands in the heart of the remote Tanami Desert, the Warlpiri people were among the last Aboriginal groups to make sustained contact with Europeans.
This geographic distance helped protect their age-old cultural knowledge and sacred connections, allowing them to maintain a continuous and unbroken relationship with their Country and the stories passed down from their ancestors over the millenia.
Today, the Warlpiri community continues to teach, paint and celebrate their Dreaming stories - strengthening identity, honouring their Elders and ensuring that their unique culture remains vibrant for future generations.
At just 26 years old, Alicka Napanangka Brown is already a powerful storyteller and cultural ambassador - a vibrant voice of the next generation.
Mainie is proud to support her artistic journey and help her stories travel far beyond the desert sands of Yuendumu - all while ensuring her work is licensed ethically, with royalties paid for every piece made bearing her designs.
Cockatoo Creek Modal Scarf
Shop Alicka’s Designs
Explore her wearable art pieces in the Mainie collection today:
- Red Earth Dreaming – Australian Merino Wool Scarf
- Cockatoo Creek – Modal Scarf
Discover fashion with soul - where every stitch keeps culture strong.
Shop at mainie.com.au
Founded in 2012, by Gunggari Aboriginal woman, Charmaine (Mainie) Saunders, Mainie Australia is a Supply Nation Certified Indigenous Owned Business and an Indigenous Art Code Member.
