Selma is an accomplished acrylic and watercolour painter. She grew up in Ntaria (Hermannsburg) where she went to school with fellow artist Ivy Pareroultja.

Selma states about herself: “My name is Selma Coulthard and my Aboriginal name is Nunay. I am a Pertama Maduthara Luritja Tribe from Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs Station) which is located South West of Alice Springs in Central Australia. I was born in Alice Springs in 1954 and grew up at Tempe Downs until the Government started to remove half caste kids from their families and put them in mission boarding homes. I was taken to Ntaria where I did my schooling. It is here that my love for art started when I saw Ivy Pareroultja painting Mt. Hermannsburg. In the 1950s my father used to work as a tourist guide at Palm Valley (a spot we called Titjarritjarra) and I used to see watercolour painters working on site. I have always wanted to be an artist and I just hope that my work will be recognised.

No work is the same each piece is unique in its own right. I usually try and remember the landscape and the way the colours change in different times of the day, sometime I see purple, orange and red. My colours are always true to my country. My first ever watercolour painting, when I was in grade 6, was photographed for the National Geographic magazine. I have always created artwork based on my stories: my work on Mulga Spinifex Country, my country where I grew up and lived – Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs), the oasis in the Desert at Urrampinyi, running Waters at Irrmakara, spiritual keepers of our land, my Dreaming – the Thorny Devil, animals in my country, paintings depicting women’s ceremonial site (business) and more.”

Special Project 

2014         Collage workshop with Roland Souliere, Alice Springs, NT

2019         Lumen Prints Workshop with AGNSW, Alice Springs, NT

2019         Cicada Press etching workshop, Sydney, NSW

Group exhibitions

• 2023
  Museum of Economic Botany, Tarnanthi Adelaide
• 2023
  Desert Mob, Araluen Art Centre
• 2023
  Apmarra Nuka, Nanda Hobbs, Sydney NSW
• 2023
  Belonging / Tjoritjarinja, Ngununggula Regional Gallery Southern Highlands, Bowral NSW
• 2023
  Art house Sydney
• 2022
  Kuprilya Kwatja Etatha, Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Arts, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
• 2022
  Clay on Country, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT
• 2022
  One Too Many, Cross Arts Projects
• 2022
  23rd Biennale of Sydney – Rivus, 12 March – 13 June 2022
• 2021
  30th Desert Mob Exhibition, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
• 2021
  Pmara Nurnaka, Yia Nurnaka: Our Country, Our Stories, Bett Gallery, Hobart TAS
• 2021
  Before and Now, South Australian Museum, Adelaide SA
• 2020
  Homeless on my Homeland, NIRIN 22nd Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
• 2019
  Tjina Nurna-ka, Pmarra Nurn-kanha, Itla Itla Nurn-kanha (Our family, our country, our legacy), Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide SA
• 2019
  Pmarra Nurna-Kananhala untha-lapp-urma (Walking through country), Hazelhurst Art centre, Sydney, NSW.
• 2018
  The Endurance of Bush Medicine, Medical History Museum, University of Melbourne, VIC
• 2018
  Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
• 2017
  Tjuritja Nana Mara to Paris (From the good Tjuritja to Paris), IDAIA , Paris , France
• 2014
  Women Artisits of the Hermannsburg School of Art, The Residency, Alice Springs, NT
• 2011
  Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong, NSW
• 2011
  Norpa, Lismore, NSW
• 2011
  Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT
• 2011
  The University Gallery, Newcastle, NSW
• 2010
  Flinders University City Gallery, Adelaide, SA

Collections

• 2017 Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, QLD
• 2019 Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW
• 2018 Medical History Museum, University of Melbourne, VIC
• 2022 Artbank NSW
• 2022 Murdoch University Collection, WA
• 2023 Judith Neilson ARCHITECTURE / DANGROVE
• 2023 Powerhouse Museum Sydney NSW

Awards

• 2021
  Ravenswood Australian Womens Art Prize- Finalist
• 2021
  Lingiari Art Awards, Desart Alice Springs NT Finalist