Rene Sundown was born near Mt Ebenezer NT and Rene and her siblings were raised in bushland there by their mother. Rene’s father worked as a stockman at nearby cattle stations and Rene and her siblings soon took on work at the Erldunda Station.As a young woman, Rene settled in the newly established Indulkana Community and worked at the preschool. 

Rene and her husband Hughie Cullinan now live at Amaroona, a homelands near the Indulkana Community, where they manage the land and maintain Anangu cultural practices like cultivating bush foods and Hughie crafts kulata (traditionally made wooden spears). Rene and Hughie work with the Indulkana Anangu School to organise regular cultural trips for school students to visit Amaroona. 

Rene commenced painting at Iwantja Artsin 2000 and is a respected senior woman and a long-serving director of the ArtCentre. A dedicated painter, Rene utilises a pared-back palette and subtleshifts in colour to depict her memories of the Ngura Tali (Sandhill Country)where she grew up near the Erldunda Station.