Marlene grew up in Ngukurr and has spent all of her life here. She is an Alawa woman and her skin is Birlinjan. She has spent her working career educating young children, as a bible teacher at Nunggalinya College and as a Kriol translator. She likes to read books and sing and is a natural storyteller. She comes from a family of painters and has recently started making her own art.  Her inspiration is drawn from nature and she enjoys the process of translating the beauty of nature onto canvas.