Lily Kelly Napangardi

Who is Lily Kelly Napangardi?

Lily Kelly Napangardi is a distinguished Aboriginal artist born in the Haasts Bluff region of the Northern Territory of Australia.

In her earlier years, Lily lived with her family at the settlement of Papunya, but later moved to Watiyawanu. Lily is a respected senior law woman of her community of Watiyawanu, and the custodian over the Women's Dreamtime stories associated with Kunajarrayi.

Lily Kelly Napangardi began painting in the early 1980s. She won the Northern Territory Art Award for Excellence in Aboriginal Painting in 1986 and was a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2003. In January 2006, she was named as one of Australia’s 50 most collectable artists by Australian Art Collector magazine.

Napangardi's paintings are of her country, especially of the sand hills around Mount Liebig. They are usually done in white dots on black background, presenting an almost three-dimensional illusion of space and depth. Some rarer examples of her work are painted in two colours on black background. Today Lily Kelly Napangardi's art is recognised as some of the most innovative in the contemporary Aboriginal art scene. It is highly sought-after by museums and private collectors worldwide.