Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty creates multi layered canvases that can sing with colour and complex structures, or can be very restrained, sombre and occasionally foreboding. She is a very versatile and skilled artist, a young generation artist (born 1972) seeking new ways to express her ideas and experiences through the painted canvas. Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty has travelled widely in Australia – born in Tennant Creek, growing up in Daly River and Darwin, educated in Queensland and Victoria. 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 studied teaching, initially at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Education in the N.T. and completing her degree at Deakin University in 1994. Her paintings express the stories of the traditional ways of life at Daly River – life by the sea, kinship ties, land management, rituals and ceremonies.

Helen McCarthy has worked as a teacher in remote schools while continuing to develop her art and her career. In 1993 she participated in her first art festival and in 2006 held her first solo exhibition. In 2007 Helen was selected in the 24th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award with her painting of Grandpa Harry’s Canoe, and was awarded the People’s Choice Award for her work. She says of her grandfather “In his day he was the best canoe maker in his country. It’s a sad story and a good story at the same time. It’s the last canoe that he ever made.” Helen was also a finalist at the 2008 Telstra Awards. In 2011, Helen was commissioned to paint the artwork used as the stage backdrop for the Oprah Winfrey show that was filmed in Australia.

Helen has a relentless passion to learn all she can about culture and country from her elders, as well as the ability to effectively communicate through her art using an array of styles, intricate dotting and delicate brushwork techniques, abstract imagery, bold colour use and intuitive interplays with space and form. Her art can be multi-layered, complex and colorful, or it can be restrained, solemn and occasionally ominous. She finds inspiration all around her; in her deep connection to country, in the traditional practices associated with a life living bush and in her incredible family stories. Helen’s connection to country and culture combined with her non-indigenous education are the foundations she uses to express her ideas and experiences in her own unique manner.