The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Pansy Napangati, of Luritja and Walpiri descent, was born at Haasts Bluff in the Northern Territory. When the settlement at Haasts Bluff became abandoned due to lack of suitable water, the family moved to Papunya. There Napangati began painting in the 1970s, when the Papunya art movement was still in its infancy. She learnt to paint by observation; watching two established artists, Johnny Warangula and Kaapa, at work. Anmanarri Nungurrayi, her mother’s cousin, taught her the Dreamings which became the inspiration for and subject of her paintings.

Napangati’s work is held in the National Gallery of Victoria, the Holmes a Court collection and the museums and art galleries of the Northern Territory. In 1989 she won the National Aboriginal Art Award.