Otto Sims

Otto Jungarrayi Sims was born 1960 at Yuendumu, an aboriginal community about 290km northwest of Alice Springs in the NT. He remembers spending much of his childhood travelling in the surrounding country of this region. Otto finished high school in Yuendumu and has continued his studies through the indigenous college in Alice Sring where he got a bachelor’s in Business. He has worked for Yuendumu Council and the Tanami Goldmine in 1990’s.

Otto paints his father’s, Paddy Japaljarri Sims, stories, that were passed down to Paddy by his parents, and their parents before them for millennia. These stories relate directly to Otto’s country at Kunajarrayi and Yanjilpirri, its features, and flora and fauna.

Warlu Jukurrpa (Fire Dreaming)

This painting shows the traditional practices associated with burning off areas of spinifex country. The fires are lit so that ‘liwirringki’ (burrowing skinks), other lizards, and small mammals are flushed out of their burrows and hiding places. This allows them to be more easily caught for food and also enables the re-growth of diversity of plants, which in turn attracts a broader range of animal food species.