Community: Ernabella
Art Centre: Ernabella Arts (Pukatja, S.A)
Area: APY Lands, South Australia
Born: 1959
Biography:

Malpiya Davey was born in 1959 and has lived in Ernabella most of her life.
She has five daughters and a son and numerous grandchildren. Now that her children are grown up she can spend more time in art making and is especially skilled in ceramics, as well as painting and print making.

Malpiya’s mother’s and father’s country is to the west of Ernabella near the Western Australian border in country between Watarru and Iltur; Malpiya often paints about this country.

Since Ernabella Arts opened its on-site ceramic studio in 2003 Malpiya has been one of the most enthusiastic and prolific ceramic workers there. She has pioneered sgraffito technique on ceramic pieces at Ernabella and made it her specialty; her works have been acquired by major collectors as well as Araluen Alice Springs and Flinders University Art Museum.
Malpiya uses various species of bush foods/mai putitja as the subject of many of her sgraffito pieces: the shapes of bush tomatoes/kampurarpa, ili/wild figs, and wayanu/quandong all lend themselves to the fluid, curvilinear patterning that complement the ceramic forms on which she works.

Her ceramic work has been shown at the JamFactory Centre for Craft and Design, Adelaide, Flinders University City Gallery, Walkabout Gallery Sydney, MAGNT Darwin, Desert Mob Araluen 2003, 2004, 2005 and Nomad Art, Darwin.