Rene was born in the bush land that surrounds Mt Ebenezer. Rene and her two older brothers were raised in the bush by her mother while her father worked as a stockman between Mt Ebenezer Station and Erldunda Station, which are both located along the Lasseter Hwy towards Uluru.
“When the rain would come we used to go hunting for rabbit and malu (kangaroo) with my father. He was always catching goanna and echidnas; we used to pull out all the sharp ends and cook them on the fire. They were my favourite, very tasty! A salty creek used to run near to Erldunda Station and me and my brothers always wanted to be swimming there. When I was little my grandfather would sometimes take all of us children on the train to Titjikala. We always had a fun time then looking out the window.”
“I live at the Homelands now with my husband Hewey Cullinan. It’s a little bit away from Indulkana, so it’s quieter there, we enjoy watering the plants and living in the country, it’s a good place, Hewey is a good man. It’s important to teach our children on these lands, then we can remember this place and where we come from.”
Rene began painting at Iwantja Arts in the year 2000, painting memories of the long walks she would take along the sandhills and the salty river water near Erldunda Station that she played in as a child. Her paintings use a simple colour palette and gain complexity through her confident brush marks and intriguing iconography. Rene’s paintings evoke images of desert grasses, hidden pathways and sun-cracked riverbeds.