Angelina George grew up at Roper River near Katherine in the Northern Territory. Her love for painting began while still at school, but it wasn’t until she was in her late sixties that Angelina first started to paint seriously. Although encouraged to paint and create during her formative years at school, Angelina received no formal training from traditional sources. She is thus considered a self-taught artist.
As a child Angelina George developed a strong respect for the traditional and Christian religious learnings that were to inscribe her young life. In adulthood she adheres to these learnings and her paintings follows strict cultural restrictions passed onto her by elders.
These prerequisites to artistic life have formed Angelina’s creative self. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Angelina had moved her work wholly into the realm of innovation and imagination. Her love of country, of intense beauty of nature, is deeply imbedded in the vibrant landscapes all the while not betraying specific sites.
She hails from an incredibly artistic family. She is the sister of artists Gertie Huddleston, Eva Rodgers and Betty Roberts, and is the mother of renowned Aboriginal Actor Tom E. Lewis.
In 2007 Angelina won the General Painting section of the 24th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. She exhibited extensively, been selected in numerous art prizes and is held in major collections including the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Victoria, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the Laverty and Kerry Stokes Collections.
Sadly, Angelina George died in 2015.
NGUKURR - ARTISTS OF THE ROCK COUNTRY EXHIBITION (MAY - JUNE 2022)
