Kathy Ramsay

Kathy Ramsay is a proud Gija artist whose practice is deeply rooted in the ancestral stories, spiritual landscapes, and cultural knowledge of her Country, Bow River.

Born 1965, Kathy comes from a distinguished artistic lineage. She is the daughter of celebrated Warmun artists Rammey and Mona Ramsay, and the granddaughter of the late Timmy Timms, a respected Gija artist and senior Lawman. Kathy began painting in 2013, and her vibrant, evocative works quickly gained recognition. Featured in numerous group exhibitions across Australia and internationally, her paintings have found homes in private and public collections throughout the world. Her distinctive artistic voice and painterly strength have established her as an important presence within the Warmun art movement.

Bridging generations, Kathy paints Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories, ancestral narratives, and life on Country using traditional ochres collected from her homeland, alongside acrylic and other contemporary mediums. Her work celebrates the living spirit of Country; from Bow River and Old Station life to bush medicines, living healing waters, and the enduring connection between people and place. She also explores themes of Christianity, land rights, religious iconography, and the spiritual forces that shape everyday life.

Working across canvas, paper, editioned prints, woodwork, carving, and painted artefacts, Kathy honours her ancestors while expressing the vitality of a living, evolving culture. Her practice reflects a profound spiritual and emotional connection to Country, with bold compositions carrying the wisdom entrusted to her by her Elders and preserved for future generations. As Kathy explains, “I just paint what my old people told me about our Country, because they are the ones who know its history.”

Her paintings embody remembrance, strength, faith, cultural pride, and continuity, bringing lived experience, spiritual insight, and cultural responsibility to every work she creates.

Kathy’s growing list of national and international exhibitions and accolades affirms her place within contemporary Aboriginal art. She was selected for Revealed at Fremantle Arts Centre (2015), was a finalist in the John Fries Award and Port Hedland Art Awards (2017), and received Highly Commended at the Mandorla Art Prize (2024).

In 2024, Kathy presented her first solo exhibition, Reaching for the Stars, in Broome; a deeply personal and spiritual body of work. She has also featured in Mothers & Daughters, Two Sisters, and numerous significant multi-generational exhibitions throughout 2025 and 2026, with further major exhibitions scheduled for 2027. Her paintings are held in important public and private collections, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and have been exhibited in landmark exhibitions such as Tarnanthi, Desert River Sea, and Warmun at Twenty.

As a cultural custodian, storyteller, and fearless innovator, Kathy Ramsay provides a powerful link between past and present. Her paintings are living archives; mapping Country, spirit, memory, and survival. With every brushstroke, she honours her ancestors and ensures that the powerful stories of Gija Country continue to be seen, heard, and remembered for generations to come.