Yurpiya Lionel is a leading senior artist of Ernabella Arts in the APY Lands of SA. She was born at the homeland Donald’s Well, near Kenmore Park, about 45 kms east of Ernabella. She is the daughter of the late Pantjti Lionel, a very senior Pitjantjatjara woman and artist. Her family lived in Ernabella where she attended school. In 2004 Yurpiya started painting at Ernabella Arts. She has three children and several grandchildren - her daughters Rachael and Alison Lionel are emerging painters and ceramic artists.
Yurpiya is also a very accomplished fibre sculptor and weaver. Her main painting theme is that of the Caterpillar (Anumara) Dreaming story of her mother's country near Kanpi. Her depictions of the caterpillar tracks as they weave under and over the ground were originally multicoloured. However in recent years she has refined her style to that of fine lines and more subtle colouration. It is these more recent works that have been singled out for praise by critic, led her to be chosen as a finalist in the 2015 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and sought after by leading collectors.
Her work has been included in group exhibition presented by her art centre's representative galleries in Sydney, Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula, Queenscliff, Broome, Alice Springs, Canberra, Darwin, the USA, Belgium and Singapore.
Her work is represented in the National Gallery of Victoria, the University of Newcastle and was selected to appear in the groundbreaking Indigenous art festival Tarnanthi at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2015.