Nicole comes from a long line of women artists working at Ernabella Arts. Her grandmother is Nura Rupert (dec) and her mother is Malpiya Davey. Nura learnt rug weaving in the early days of the Ernabella craft room and progressed to ceramics, punu (wood carving) and painting.
Nicole is inspired by her grandmother’s quirky and distinct imagery. Nicole has adapted Nura’s style and she continues the artistic tradition by creating fun and playful designs of tjitji (children) and papa (camp dogs) on both ceramics and canvas.
In 2020 Nicole was approached by SBS to use her papa paintings for the rebranding of Jarjums, programming dedicated to First Nations children with content from Australia and around the world. Her cheeky little papa are still running wild across the country on NITV.
Nicole has recently started hand making small ceramic animals, focusing on her favourite papa, as well as cats, birds and the lesser-known Ernabella penguin.
