Emma Nangari Roepcke was born in Port Augusta, South Australia, to a Pitjantjatjara-speaking mother and a German father. Her maternal family lived in the Northern Territory near Hermannsburg, where she spent much time as a child. Struggling with the complexity of her mixed identity, she found it difficult to reconnect with her Aboriginal heritage despite the efforts of her family, particularly her grandfather. It was through painting that she gradually began to understand the traditions that shaped her culture.

Her work focuses on representing her mother’s Country, with its rich and vibrant colours, celebrating the seasons, animals, and plants that make this land so meaningful in her eyes.