Yalmakany Marawili was born in 1957. Her mother was the well known artist Mrs M Wirrpanda, her brother is community lesder Djambawa Marawili and her sister is Gurrundul Marawili. She is married to Waninya Marika OAM and lives between Yilpara and Yirrkala. She was been a prolific painter of bark paintings and hollow log (larrakitj) sculptures for a number of years and depicts the saltwater estate of Baraltja. 

Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in leading galleries since 1998 and in a solo exhibition at Annandale Galleries, Sydney, 2009.