Betsy Napangardi Lewis (c. 1940–2008) was born at Kunajarryi, west of Yuendumu and became a noted Warlpiri artist across the course of her career. As a child, Napangardi Lewis moved to Mount Doreen Station and attended the Yuendumu School. She lived in Yuendumu for the rest of her life, splitting her time between there and the neighbouring community of Nyirripi. Known to be a strong woman who possessed a confrontational nature, Napangardi Lewis was also said to have been a caring and happy person. She began painting in the 1990s and in 1999 transitioned to painting full-time for Warlukurlangu Artists, an arts centre based in Yuendumu. A prolific artist and a hard worker, Napangardi Lewis would paint at the art centre each day, developing her unique style and experimenting with new techniques. Her main dreaming was Mina Mina, which was the focus of much of her work that featured movement through abstraction and colour. During her career Napangardi Lewis exhibited extensively in group exhibitions across Australia.
From 2006 to 2010, Greg Weight travelled extensively through Central Australia meeting and photographing contemporary Pintupi and Warlpiri artists. This photograph of Napangardi Lewis is one of the portraits included in his resulting book Artists of the Western Desert (2011).
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2024
Patrick Corrigan AM (130 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Greg Weight on working with Jiawei Shen, and starting out as a photographer.
Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.
