Allery Sandy is the daughter of Sandy Andrews and Lila King. She was born in Roebourne, the fourth of eleven children. She has a family of two daughters and a son – Joanne, Donna and Bobby Willis. Allery’s first job was with the Community Welfare selling secondhand clothing, followed by running a play group in the community for needy children. In 1986, she was employed as the Aboriginal Islander Education worker at Roebourne Pre-primary School, followed in 1990 by teaching her own Yindjibarndi language through a LOTE (Languages Other Than English) program. In 2001, she left the school and found work with a team of women doing cooking and sewing, and she is also involved in the ministry of the Aboriginal Church. Allery started painting in February 2006, enrolling in short courses in painting and design. She has a natural sponge and brush work and then finishes off with a fine layer of dot work, creating a sense of movement and depth of field on the canvas. Allery has a number of subjects she likes to paint. She enjoys painting the bush seeds of her country, its creeks and rivers, wildflowers in season and trees that are specific to her Pilbara country. Allery loves to tell stories that were told to her by her father and grandfather. Her favourite style of painting her country is from an aerial perspective. Allery Sandy regularly exhibits in private galleries in Fremantle and Sydney, and has won a number of prizes at the Cossack Art Awards, and is represented public and private collections. Allery has been the Chairperson of Yinjaa-Barni Art since 2006, and is a highly respected member of the Yindjibarndi community and a passionate communicator of her culture. In 2014, Allery was both a SBS off her painting performer and Yindjibarndi language and cultural advisor for the play, “Hipbone Sticking Out.” Allery has a film that can be viewed on SBS online, called Marni (My Painting Style).
