Alison was born in Pirlangimpi on Melville Island. She grew up in Pirlangimpi and went to the local school. After she completed school she worked in child care. She has one daughter, Annette Orsto known locally as Sugar Plum who is a great favourite at the art centre studio where Alison paints with her mother Paulina (Jedda) Puruntatameri, her partner James Orsto and the other artists.
It was Alison’s grandfather, Justin Puruntatameri (deceased) a senior law man who told Alison she should have a go at painting. He knew all the old songs and remembered visits by the Maccassans to the Tiwi Islands when he was a boy. Alison would listen to his stories of his paintings at the art centre and on country. He used to take the family hunting when she was little. He would also take them out bush bashing in his two door Toyota ute called Black Nose. He used to teach them how to cook wallabies, mussels, lots of foods all together under the ground wrapped in paperbark.
Alison started painting at Munupi Arts Centre in late 2011. Alison has been a finalist in several prestigious art awards, including the Museum of Contemporary Arts 2014 Primavera Art Award; Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (Telstra NATSIAA) 2022; The Alice Prize 2022; and the Art Gallery of South Australia's 2023 Ramsay Art Awards.
