Born in 1938 (perhaps as early as 1925) at Napperby, where she has lived all her life, Kitty Pultara is the sister Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri and Kitty Cockatoo and the 'cousin’ of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. The wife of Malcolm Tjampitjinpa, one of the tribal leaders in the Napperby community, Kitty is an Anmatyerre speaker with Northern Arrente affiliations (Pultara is an Arrente skin name) and a senior and respected head woman in the Napperby community. She took up painting in 1986 after having worked as a domestic servant at the station for much of her earlier life. Kitty paints her Storm and Lightning, Plum and Butterfly Dreamings, her father’s Yalka (Bush Onion) Dreaming, Possum Dreaming, Rain Dreaming from around Mt Wedge, and Kungka Berry, a mulberry like fruit which is plentiful at a soakage north of the Napperby homestead, which is situated in Kitty’s grandfather’s traditional country. Kitty’s daughter, Beatrix Dixon Nangala , also paints. Kitty’s work has been exhibited in several national capitals and the USA and was featured in an issue of Belle magazine.

Writers:

Johnson, Vivien

Date written:

1994

Last updated:

2011