Maimie Giles is a young Aboriginal artist from Tjukurla, a remote community in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia. She was born at the Tjukurla clinic in 2001 and began painting while attending school in Perth. Her artistic practice developed through watching her mother and aunties paint at Tjukurla.
Maimie paints the Country of her father, creating landscape works that reflect her connection to Country and the places that are important to her. She sometimes paints the landscape as she sees it, while at other times she uses patterns within the landscape to create a distinctive visual style. Her paintings often depict Country at different times of day, particularly at sunset, when the colours shift through blue, purple, pink and red.
Her work is connected to the artistic traditions of her family. Maimie has spoken about painting like her grandmother, who also painted when she was young. She is also involved with her art centre, where she enjoys helping other women and assisting with mixing colours.
Maimie Giles has exhibited as an emerging artist and has been represented through Tjarlirli Art, the art centre based at Tjukurla. She was included in the Revealed Exhibition 2021, which showcased emerging Aboriginal artists from Western Australia, and her work has also been presented by Australian galleries including Short St Gallery and Bluethumb.
One of her documented works, Malu Kumpu, depicts Malu Kumpu, a large lake northeast of Tjukurla, surrounded by sandhills. The painting reflects her approach to representing the physical landscape and Country.