Lily Karedada

Lily Karedada was born of Woonambal parents in her father’s country, Woomban-go-wangoorr, around the Prince Regent River in the East Kimberley. She belongs to the Jirrengar (owlet nighthar) moiety and her specific totems are the turkey, possum and white cockatoo. Her bush name, Mindindil, means bubbles, referring to the time when her father ‘found’ her spirit coming from the water. He looked down into the spring water on top of a hill, saw bubbles coming out and announced, “Ah what this one here, he come out bubble? Ah! Might be kid.”

Lily specialises in representations of Wandjina, executed in a refined style, full of subtle tonal variations. Sometimes the Wandjina is shown emerging from a veil of dots (rain) which also inundate the body. Both the outlines and dotting are far more precise than the vigorous, gestured marks of sister in law Rosie Karedada. A dotted ground is also characteristic of Lily’s depictions of totemic species and the natural features of her country.

She is recognised as being one of the major artists of the Kimberley region and has exhibited her work extensively.
Subject & Themes
Wandjina
Collections
Artbank, Sydney.
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia.
Christensen Collection, held Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, U.S.A.
Individual Exhibitions
1981 Die kunst der Australischen Ureinwohner lebt, Museum fur Volkerkunde, Leipzig, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde, Dresden.
1988 Karnta, Touring South-east Asia, [non selling Karnta show].
1990 Balance 1990: views, visions, influences, QAG, Brisbane.
1991 Aboriginal Women’s Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
1992 Broome Fringe Festival, Broome.
1993 Images of Power, Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
1994 Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria.
Bibliography
Aboriginal Artists of Western Australia, [n.d. [folios of works and biographies], Aboriginal Education Resources Unit, Western Australia.
McCulloch, A., & McCulloch, S., 1994, The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, St Leonards, New South Wales.
Ryan, J., 1993, Images of Power, Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley, exhib, cat., National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Stanton, J., 1989, Painting the Country: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Kimberley Region, Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. (C)
1991, Aboriginal Women’s Exhibition, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.