Andrew Tjupurrula Highfold

Andrew Highfold Tjupurrula was born in 1958 and comes from Crystal Brook in South Australia. He relocated to Alice Springs later on, where he began to learn and paint traditional Aboriginal stories passed down to him by his family members.
In 2006 Andrew graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from University. He has achieved acknowledgements in many fields and activities including 11 years’ experience as an ambulance officer.
Andrew is a member of the Stolen Generation but has been able to reconnect with his close and extended Aboriginal family in both South Australia and the Northern Territory. He comes from a family with nine children. Andrew is now married with three children of his own and a granddaughter. He celebrates family and culture through his art. He believes that his paintings are gifts from his Mother and Grandmother's spirits.
Andrew Highfold’s story is a remarkable one.

He was the first Indigenous ambulance officer in South Australia, possibly in the nation, and is fondly remembered by colleagues. Around 2010 Andrew moved to Alice Springs and in the process has discovered he can paint. His artworks have already sold to overseas buyers. As he explains, it's all the result of connecting with his Aboriginal heritage, after being brought up not as Andrew Highfold but as Andrew Curtis - a member of the Stolen Generations. "I was placed into a white family from birth. "I guess it wasn't until I realised that, as I grew older... having a look in the mirror, that I was different to the family I was with. It took me quite a while to understand that because I never really thought of myself as an Aboriginal person."