Born in 1938, Kathleen Padoon Napanangka walked around the country south of Yakka Yakka with her mother, father, brother and uncle. This included Mangkayi, her father’scountry, and Nantalarra and Nakarra Nakarra her mother’s country. They also travelled to Gordon Downs Station for rations of tea, sugar, flour and tobacco. When Kathleen was still a young girl, her family moved to Sturt Creek where she worked in the laundry. It was here that she met her husband, Paddy Paddoon, who was one of the men in the stock camp. She had two daughters at Sturt Creek before they moved to the old Balgo mission. Kathleen gave birth to her third daughter in the old stables of the mission. The children were placed in the dormitories and Kathleen worked as a gardener and in the kitchen making bread. Kathleen and Paddy would attempt to travel back to Sturt Creek for weekends and holidays with the children as much as possible. This is where their last child, a son, was born.
Kathleen commenced painting in the late 1980s and in 2002 began to emerge as a
significant artist, gaining recognition for her predominately red and white paintings of Nakarra Nakarra (Seven Sisters’ Dreaming) and the country associated with this Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) story. She was a senior Law woman and a custodian of the Nakarra Nakarra (Seven Sisters’ Dreaming) songs and ceremonies from the country south of Yakka Yakka. In 2004, she had her first solo exhibition of paintings. Following that her work became increasingly highly sought after and exhibited in leading galleries around Australia. Kathleen Padoon passed away in April 2019.
