Michael Reid Tjapanangka was born in Alice Springs. He was ‘grown up’ as a child by the famous painter Doreen Reid Nakamarra in Kintore and later Kiwirrkura, and her early influence is apparent in his work. The young artist shows extraordinary promise, painting intermittently for Papunya Tula Artists when in Kintore.

Michael Reid’s works depict designs related to the rockhole and soakage water site, in north of Mt Webb in Western Australia. During ancestral times, a large group of Tingari men camped at this site before travelling east to Pinari. The Tingari Song Cycle is a secret-sacred mythology, the specifics of which are only known to initiated Pintupi. In general, the Tingari are a group of ancestral Dreaming beings who travelled over vast stretches of country, creating, and transforming the landscape through their movements.