Geraldine Bedford / Daiwul Ngarranggarni (Barramundi Dreaming) (19599)

Born in Wyndham in 1971, Geraldine Bedford is a Gija woman with deep roots in both the East and West Kimberley. Her connection to Country, culture, and storytelling runs in her blood — she is the niece of acclaimed Warmun artists and sisters Lena Nyadbi and Goody Barrett, and the granddaughter of renowned painter Paddy Bedford.

Geraldine’s father, Joe Lisadell, was a stockman and the younger brother of Lena and Goody. Her mother, Mary-Lou Bedford, met Joe while they were both working at Bedford Downs Station—Joe as a stockman, Mary-Lou as a station maid. Though her father later returned to live with his sisters at Lisadell Station, Geraldine spent much of her childhood in the West Kimberley, growing up at Mount House Station, Gibb River, and Mount Barnett with her mother, stepfather Robert Dutchie and extended family.

In later years, she moved between the East and West Kimberley, eventually settling in Warmun. In 2017, she moved into Lena’s former home, the same year Lena relocated to Aged Care in Halls Creek.

Geraldine is a proud mother of four and grandmother to ten. Her deepening engagement with painting was inspired by stories passed down from her aunties Lena and Goody. With their encouragement and blessing, she began painting in earnest, continuing the legacy of her remarkable family.

“Somebody have to keep on carrying my painting,” Lena told her. Geraldine paints with permission from her relatives and with a strong sense of purpose: to honour her cultural inheritance, stay connected to her Country, and ensure her knowledge is passed on.

“I love working hard, and painting keeps us busy. And I want to pass it on to my children and grandchildren.”

Selected Group Exhibitions
• 2022 – Revealed: New and Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists, Fremantle Arts Centre, WA
• 2021 – The Ochre Story, Japingka Aboriginal Art, Fremantle, WA

“Daiwul” is the Gija word for barramundi. Geraldine paints the Daiwul Ngarranggarni (Barramundi Dreaming) from Gija Country in the East Kimberley.

One of the most cherished stories tells of three women fishing for Daiwul during the Ngarranggarni (Dreaming or Creation Era). Using woven spinifex nets, they tried to catch a barramundi, but it escaped — leaping high across Gija Country. As it flew through the air, its shimmering scales fell to the earth, becoming the diamonds found in the region.

This Dreaming has been painted by several revered Gija artists, including Geraldine’s aunties Lena Nyadbi and Goody Barrett, as well as senior women artists Peggy Patrick, Phyllis Thomas and Queenie McKenzie. Geraldine’s contribution continues this important cultural tradition, preserving and sharing the stories of her ancestors through her art.

Painting in rich natural ochres, Geraldine uses repeating U-shapes to represent the shed scales, rows of short strokes to depict jimbala (spearheads) as well as fish-trap stakes, dots for stones and water, and rounded forms for the rocky outcrops at the Dreaming site.

Whether she shows the fish itself or the country it moved through, each painting keeps this women’s story strong and honours the deep connection between the people and Country in the East Kimberley.