Louis Karedada (Wanggeremara)

The Karedada family have been among the most consistent and longest
practicising artists from Kalumburu in the far north Kimberley region,
maintaining an association with the arts that spans more than thirty
years.

Louis, his brother Jack and their wives Lily and Rosie belong to the Wunumbal-speaking peoples whose country is in the north west Kimberley between the Prince Regent River and the King Edward River. During the 1970’s the Karedadas augmented their income with the production of traditional artefacts and craft goods. Louis and his brother Jack produced high quality artefacts, weapons, and implements that generally did not lend themselves to further embellishment. They also carved boab nuts and, from the mid 70’s on engraved small tablets of slate. The Karedadas produced smaller works painted on prepared slabs of wood. The Wandjina plaques for which they have became famous were a major addition to their already extensive range of creations.

Louis Karedada draws upon a wider range of themes in his art, presenting them in a naturalistic way. His work contrasts with that of most other artists of this area as it does not depict images derived from Bradshaw or Wandjina figures. His imagery, while figurative reflects his life experience and images of the landscape.

As elders with extended experience in the ways of the bush and its associated cosmology the senior members of the Karadeda family are a vital link between the past and the increasingly cosmopolitan Kalumburu population.
Subject & Themes
Salt water life, Kimberley landscape, Wandjina spirits
Bibliography
Stanton, J.E., 1988, Innovative Aboriginal Art of Western Australia, Occasional Paper 1, The University of Western Australia Anthropology Research Museum, Nedlands, Western Australia. (C)
Stanton, J., 1989, Painting the Country: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Kimberley Region, Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. (C)