Judy Watson Napangardi Biography
Judy Napangardi Watson (circa 1925 - 2016) was a senior painter from Yuendumu in the Northern Territory of Australia. Very distinctive in her style, she was an energetic and ground-breaking Indigenous artist known for traditional stories depicted using an amazing palette of vibrant colour. About Judy WatsonJudy Napangardi Watson was born around 1925 at Yarungkanji, Mount Doreen Station. At that time, many Central and Western Desert Peoples were living a traditional nomadic life. A big part of life for the nomadic people of this region were long trips on foot, and Judy herself travelled many times to her country spending a lot of time at Mina Mina and Yingipurlangu, her ancestral country on the border of the Tanami and Gibson Deserts. An incredibly energetic woman even late in her life, she didn’t start painting until late in her life. In the 1980’s, her sister Maggie Watson introduced her to painting with modern materials and Judy developed her style instinctively very soon after. Most of Judy’s works depict the area of Mina Mina or the traditional Dreamings of the region. Mostly it is the Ngalyipi – the Snake Vine Dreaming, centred around the snake vine collected by women during their journeys and used while performing traditional ceremonies. Judy’s depictions of the Snake Vine Dreamings are particularly dynamic and very rich in colour, which is characteristic of the artists of Yuendumu. Judy Watson is represented in major national and state galleries including National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of NSW, Berndt Museum of Anthropology, South Australian Museum, Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht and Kelton Foundation. She is also one of the few Aboriginal artists to have sold works for over $100,000 during her lifetime at auction and works are becoming increasingly hard to come by since her death in 2016. Technique and StyleSince Judy started painting in the 1980s, she has adopted the 'dragged dotting' style effectively dotting with a stick in such close proximity that is forms a line. Her paintings often describe the Mina Mina country and much like other artists from Yuendumu, Judy also produced brilliantly coloured paintings mostly inspired by the snake vines. These leafy vines are playfully lined up on her canvases creating beautiful shapes and giving her paintings texture. Judy's canvases utilize contrasting colours to construct the complex patters of sinuous lines and concentric circles symbolizing the places where the snake vines grow. Her combination of rich pigments colour, and complex, yet easy to understand compositions naturally led to the widespread appreciation of Judy’s in the art world. Why collect?Colour, colour and more colour! Judy Watson is one of the few Aboriginal artists who sold works for over $100,000 during her lifetime, and her artwork still retains its value as an investment piece in any collection. Her easy-going style and vibrant, yet unobtrusive colour scheme makes for an uplifting viewing experience that enlivens any space in which it’s placed.
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