Queenie McKenzie (Nakarra)
c1930 - 1998 Artist's country 1993- natural ochres on canvas
'One of the most prominent painters of the Warmun (Turkey Creek) community, Queenie McKenzie was born at Texas Downs Station.
'In her later years she moved to Warmun, where she became one of the most senior figures in Gija women's law and ceremony. After witnessing the success of the male Warmun artists, and with the encouragement of Rover Thomas, in 1987 McKenzie was the first woman to begin painting in her community. In little more than a decade of active painting, Queenie McKenzie emerged as a prominent and compelling commentator on the Aboriginal experience.
'Participating in numerous solo and group exhibitions, she created works that range in scope from the creation of the world, through the violent encounters of the colonial era, to the present day. Many of McKenzie's paintings are autobiographical: depicting episodes from her life with her own people and with gardiya, on the remote cattle stations of the East Kimberley.
'McKenzie created a remarkable visual history of a life spent in two worlds: the sacred landscape of the Ngarrangkarni, and her working life on Texas Downs Station.'
Eric Kjellgren in 'Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2014