Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa

Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa was born 1950 in Kiwirrkura. He now lives and works at Intinti, Northern Territory. His meticulous painting technique of linear geometric designs in delicate earthy tones is hypnotic and replicates those used for decorating shields, boomerangs and tjuringa.

The eldest of two children of Naata Nungurrayi, Kenny spent his boyhood travelling with his family in the lands surrounding Wilkinkarra, until they were taken to Papunya by a welfare patrol in 1963 with most of the Anatjari Tjampitjinpa group. He moved to Balgo Hills during the 1970s together with a group of Pintupi people, but eventually returned to Papunya.

Then, with his older brother Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, he transferred to the Intinti outstation west of Kintore. Kenny began his painting career in 1988 while at Papunya, where he was a member and Chairman of Papunya Tula Artists for many years. He depicts his tribal country around the area of Kiwirrkura and his father‘s country, Yirrukurlu, located south of the Pollock Hills.

His dreamings include a Python story and Ngamanpura, a swamp west of Kintore, where a blackberry of the same name (Ngamanpura) is found in favourable seasons.