Marlene Connolly Smith is minyma Anangu, a Pitjantjatjara woman from the Central Desert area of Australia. She has lived in Docker River on her traditional lands in the Petermann Ranges for most of her life and began carving as a teenager, taught by many in her extended family and mother, artist Bonnie Connolly.  

Currently a Maruku Arts Director, Marlene’s extensive experience and skill is the foundation of her developing her own distinct and sophisticated style of carving, particularily with her depiction of ancestral animals such as birds, echidnas and lizards.