Tarisse King was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1986. She is the older sister to fellow artist, Sarrita King, and daughter to the late, highly-regarded artist, William King Jungala (1966 – 2007). Tarisse inherits her Australian Aboriginality from her father who was part of the Gurindji tribe from the Northern Territory. The Gurindji tribe came to public attention during the 1960s and 1970s when members employed by the Wave Hill cattle station led a landmark case which became the first successful land rights claim in Australia. Tarisse spent the majority of her youth in Darwin, a unique city in northern Australia subject to extreme weather conditions; from torrential rain in the Wet Season to oppressive and immobilizing heat in the Dry Season. This climatic impact is seen in her artwork but it was also the road trips she travelled between Darwin, Katherine and Adelaide, where her father resided, that she reflects in many of her paintings. The journey through the heart of Australia, reveals extreme expanses of varying landscapes and provided Tarisse with the isolation and time to develop a unique perception of the land.