TANYA VAN HOREN

Language: Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara

Community: Coober Pedy

My family has been here (Coober Pedy) for many, many generations, they would have been here to see the water, all those colours. Lake Phillipson, they were born there, and they are buried there now. The colours out here in Coober Pedy and around lake Phillipson, colour rikina – it is special – the beautiful colours this landscape.

Tanya Van Horen

Tanya Van Horen with her artwork Painted Desert – Umoona

Tanya is a 2023 NATSIAA Finalist

I have been a tour guide in Coober Pedy for over eight years, I take people out to my country and share where my ancestors come from. I live in the desert, so far from anywhere, it is different to anything you have seen. I have shown thousands of people my country and I celebrate with them the uniqueness of this community, this manta (earth).

I am drawn to colours, colours in the landscapes that I live amongst, colours in my artworks. Through these colours you can see the Great Artesian Basin, the inland sea and Lake Phillipson. This work is of the lake, the two islands, those two waterholes. 

There are stories everywhere, so many stories, my artworks are about Papa Tjukurpa and Kungkarangkalpa, the lakes – but always about colours – that’s everything, it’s the way you look at it. You see the beautiful colours of the gems, the opals. I share these stories through my paintings and when I take people out on my country.

My grandmother was married to a Dutch Man, that’s where my last name comes from. We are stolen generation. I think about my mum and that disconnect in our family, that hurt, I carry that hurt with me. I am here teaching my children, celebrating my ancestors, celebrating this manta through my artworks. I invite you to experience this manta with me.