Helen Tyalmuty McCarthy
Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty was born at Tennant Creek in 1972. After spending most of her childhood at Nauiyu Nambiyu Community (Daly River), Helen completed her education at Mount St Bernard College at Herberton on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland.
Helen then went on to study teaching, initially at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Education in the N.T. and then completing her degree at Deakin University in 1994. It was during this time at university that Helen's art career started to take shape. In 1993, she was already involved in her first art festival. Her painting continued to develop after moving into teaching full time. For 10 years she successfully combined a job as a teacher in remote communities with her painting activities.
Helen had her first solo exhibition in 2006 in Melbourne and further solo and group exhibitions there, in Sydney and in Perth have quickly followed. In August 2007, Helen was honoured to receive the People's Choice Award at the 24th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for her painting Tyemeny Liman's Wutinggi (Grandpa Harry's Canoe). Helen was also a finalist at the 2008 Telstra Awards.
Helen now devotes herself to painting full time. She spends her time in her community at Bulgul, on the coast between Daly River and Darwin and with her family, including fellow artist Kerry Madawyn McCarthy, in Darwin. As well as painting, Helen is a committed family woman with a son and four sisters and is passionate about helping underprivileged children from all races.
|
