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Published by CompNet Systems on October 26, 2023

warlawoon country – Kathy Ramsey

Within this artwork Kathy has described a place known as Warlawoon – it is located between two stations, these are known to be Bedford Downs and Tableland St. This was where Kathy’s father and renowned artist and elder Rammey Ramsey had grown up.

Although minimal in appearance, the artist’s artwork are laden with meaning – as Kathy paints the hills, camping places and the waterholes of this country.

The water holes are seen as the circles coloured in yellow ochres – as well as the hills, whereas the camping places are located on the bottom of artwork described in red square like figure, surrounded by tree’s that the artist has painted within each corner of artwork- seen in green fern like shapes.

Today Kathy now lives in the community of Juwurlinji otherwise known as (Bow River), north of Warlawoon. However this work is forever infused with the memory of and longing for Warlawoon. Beyond depictions of place, these paintings act as reminders of the impact of pastoral occupation on Gija homelands.

Categories: WARMUN ART

Name: Kathy Ramsay

Language: English, Gija, Kimberley Kriol

Biography:

Kathy Ramsay is one of Warmun Art Centre's most prolific emerging artists carrying on the legacy of her artistic family. The daughter of artists Rammey and Mona Ramsay, and the granddaughter of the late Timmy Timms, Kathy only begun painting in 2013, yet has already been included in numerous group exhibitions and private collections across Australia and internationally. In 2015 Kathy was selected for Revealed, a biennial art event celebrating emerging Aboriginal artists in Western Australia. Kathy was born in Bow River.

Of her work Kathy says, "I only started painting in 2013. I like to join in and to be sharing a part of my Country. My mother and my grandfather always told us what this place means, what the names are, and all those Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) stories. Now, with all this painting, I'll be the one to tell them to my kids. I'm the mother of three sons, but I lost my oldest son in 2008. He was really strong in corroborree and culture, but my other sons, they carry it on too. They went to school in Warmun, and I worked in the childcare centre and cleaning and bits like that. Now I'm painting all the time. I just paint what my old people told me about our Country – because they are the ones who know the history of our Country, the Country we’re still connected to today. Our Country really knows us, and it owns us.”

In 2017, Kathy was a finalist in the John Fries Art Award, where she flew to Sydney to attend the opening night and celebrations. In her interview with the national broadcaster, the ABC, Kathy said "Everything is rolling in my mind, I can’t stop painting, I like to do it and bring it out through my heart, with the stories." Later on in 2018, Kathy was a finalist in the regional Hedland Art Award for her prominent painting depicting an in depth story about Juwulinji, often the subject in her paintings. Her ancestral Country is also known as Bow River, incorporating rich Ngarranggarni stories with recent histories of station life.

© the artist / art centre