B. 1924-2015

Born on Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Sally Gabori, a senior Kaiadilt woman, is one of Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous contemporary artists. Prior to the arrival of missionaries in the region, Gabori lived a traditional life acquiring the skills and knowledge of her people. 

Gabori began painting in 2005, at around 80 years of age, after being introduced to the Mornington Island Arts and Crafts Centre. What followed was a remarkable decade of creative energy. With no formal training, she developed a distinctly intuitive expressive style characterised by vibrant colour, gestural brushwork and emotional intensity.

Though her work is often seen as abstract, it is deeply rooted in place. Gabori painted sites of profound personal and cultural significance – her own Country, Mirdidingki; her husband’s Dibirdibi; her father’s Thundi – returning to them again and again as acts of remembrance and reconnection.

Gabori’s paintings depart from traditional Aboriginal art styles, offering a unique visual language shaped by memory, identity and longing for home. Her work is held in major national and international collections and, in 2022 was celebrated in a landmark solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris.

In just ten years, Gabori transformed the landscape of Australian contemporary art. Her legacy remains powerful – a testament to resilience, place, and the enduring strength of cultural memory.

To read a more in-depth biography of the artist, click here.