Janice Stanley Pitjantjatjara, b. 13/12/1987
Birth Date: 13/12/1987
Language: Pitjantjatjara
Birth Place: Alice Springs, NT
Janice Stanley is the third generation of Stanley women to create artwork at Ernabella Arts. She is an early career painter and ceramic artist. Her grandmother was the late founding artist and traditional healer Tjariya Stanley and her aunts are senior artists, Alison Milyika Carroll and Renita Stanley. Janice has two children.
In 2020 she exhibited in Nganampa ngura-nguru nyurampa ngurakutu (From our place to your place) at Aboriginal Signature in Brussels. Her work has been exhibited around Australia and internationally, including in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Broome, Freemantle, the Mornington Peninsula, Queenscliff, Sydney and Brussels.
Janice's paintings depict pantu, or salt lakes near Atilla (Mt Connor, NT.) This is a significant location for the Seven Sisters’ creation story. A very significant tjurkurrpa (story) to Anangu is Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) which is an extensive creation story relating to the Pleiades constellation. The story traverses Australia taking different forms. Some Ernabella women are privy to the part of the story which takes place in the country near Ernabella.
This story has been passed down to Janice by senior artist and her aunt, Renita Stanley. In this part of the story the sisters are walking and traveling south through this country. The Salt Lake that is a central part of this creation story, comes alive after rain. In her paintings, Janice depicts this Salt Lake after rain. From an arial perspective, she captures the colour and light of the lands, and the movement of water as it spreads, transforming the lands as it flows. Her unique contemporary interpretations of water flowing over these lands - so central to an ancient creation story - are increasingly capturing the attention of private collectors and public collections throughout Australia and internationally.
In September 2023 Art Almanac chose Janice's work as one of 8 artists for an editorial feature for Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks, Sydney. Her work is in the collection of Australian Parliament House.