Narlie Nelson Nakamarra was born in Haasts Bluff/Ikuntji in 1948, eldest daughter of renowned Papunya Tula artist Johnny Warangkula, from whom she learnt the stories of Kalipinypa, the subject of most of her paintings. 

Narlie depicts this famous subject, of the rain and hail making story at Kalipinya, in her own way and describes herself as self-taught. Her works typically employ a large range of colours, and she uses rows of zigzags to represent winpa (lightning), tiled shapes to represent tali (sandhills) and dots to represent raindrops and hailstones that fell on the sand hills during the great ancestral storm. Narlie is also an accomplished weaver of baskets and maker of seed necklaces.

Narlie’s work is highly sought after and has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, with inclusion in shows in the United States of America, Singapore and the United Kingdom.