"She's not a household name, but she should be," she said.

"She didn't paint what was there, she interpreted what was there."

The curator of The Mary Kunyi Legacy, showing at the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre will be delving into the work next week as part of a series of 'lunchtime talks'.

"I will really be drawing attention to the fact that [Mary Kunyi] was living an isolated life in the bush, and that she was a strong woman who has inspired many artists.

"Her art is important for so many reasons. She was living in an isolated place, but her work was corresponding to art going on in big centres like New York and Sydney."

With the assistance of the cultural centre, Dr Laudenbach contracted public and private collections of Mary's work from around Australia.

She said it was a privilege to have a hand in putting the exhibition together.

"When I was teaching in Darwin years ago, I became particularly interested in Mary's work. I met her and was fascinated by her unique style.

"I believe she is really underrepresented even though her art is included in some big collections."

The Mary Kunyi Legacy brings the artist's major works together from collections across the country for the first time, and highlights the significance of her contribution to Australian Indigenous art history as well as her contribution to the now iconic artistic style of the Daly River region.

Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre director, Poppy Searle, said the talk follows on from the successful lunchtime talks by Therese Ritchie and Danny Murphy, presented in February.

"The curator, Dr Cathy Laudenbach has had a long term interest in the work of this important Daly River artist, and visited the Merrepen Art Centre on numerous occasions when Mary was working," Mrs Searle said.

"In this talk Cathy will give an overview of the exhibition as well as discus the repetition and symbolism in Mary Kunyi's work. Cathy will also speak of the relationship of Mary's work to other artists, both Indigenous and non- Indigenous, working in Australia at the same time as Mary.

"We encourage anyone with an interest in art to bring their lunch along and enjoy our air conditioning while learning more about this extraordinary artist."

The free lunchtime talk with exhibition curator Dr Cathy Laudenbach is happening at the Cultural Centre on Tuesday May 21 from 12.30 to 1.15pm.

For more information about the exhibition head to the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre here.

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