Cathy Ward
Cathy Ward
BORN
1994, GOONOONOORRANG (KUNUNURRA), WA
COUNTRY
MIRIWOONG, NGARINYMAN
COMMUNITY
GOONOONOORRANG (KUNUNURRA), WA
LANGUAGE
MIRIWOONG
About
Cathy Ward grew up at Waringarri Arts, running around the centre from the age of six and starting to paint at ten years old. Raised by her grandparents Peggy and Alan Griffiths, senior artists and respected law people, Cathy learned about culture, painting, and how to be a good mother to her own children. Both her father and mother’s side of the family are strong artists, and Cathy has carried forward this creative legacy.
Cathy’s arts practice spans multiple mediums including painting, ceramics and textiles. As a board member of Waringarri Arts, she contributes to the leadership and direction of the art centre that has been central to her life since childhood.
Cathy paints her grandmother Peggy’s traditional Country in the East Kimberley, mapping the significant places and features she learned about through years of watching, listening, and painting alongside her elders.
WORK
In this painting, Cathy depicts Goordim, mapping the significant places of her East Kimberley Country. The large hill at the top represents Goordim itself, while the smaller hills indicate ant pit country, an important source of bush medicine. The billabongs mark Woorrilbem, a place where the river splits in two, creating an intersection of waterways across the landscape. The Country depicted here spans Newry Station and Victoria River Downs — land Cathy came to know through years of watching, listening and painting alongside her elders.
Painted in natural pigments, the work maps Country through the stories Cathy inherited — knowledge made visible through the act of painting.
