Katie Cox / Garlumboony (Spear Hill) (19509)

Katie Cox is a respected Gija artist from the East Kimberley. She was born in 1958 at Texas Downs Station (Ngarrgaroon), near what is now Warmun Community, and was sent at a young age to boarding school at Beagle Bay Mission. Like many Aboriginal children of that time, she was separated from her family for most of the year, returning home only once a year for Christmas.

After completing her education, Katie returned to Texas Downs, working for a time in the station garden before moving to Alice Downs Station, where she worked in the stock camp as a cook. In her twenties, she relocated to Warmun and began teaching reading and writing to local children. In those early days, before a school building was constructed, classes were held beneath the trees. Katie later spent time living with her husband, well-known artist Tommy Carroll, at Doon Doon — an outstation around 100km north of Warmun — where he worked as a stockman. She returned to the community in 1993 and worked as an aged care worker at Walumba Hostel, followed by many years at Ngalangangpum School in Warmun and as a long-standing member of the Warmun Council. In recent years, Katie has focused on painting and caring for her grandchildren, continuing to play an important role in her family and community. She also has a deep love of fishing and takes every opportunity to head out and catch fish to share with her family.

Art runs deep in Katie’s family. Her aunts, esteemed Warmun artists Lena Nyadbi and Goody Barrett, were early influences and mentors. Her brother Churchill Cann and sister Nancy Nodea, both internationally recognised artists, were also important influences.

Although introduced to painting by others, Katie has developed a unique and confident visual language. Her work is bold and expressive, yet often touched with a whimsical flair — especially evident in her Dingo Dreaming and Eagle and Crane series. This playful quality is balanced by a meticulous approach and a deep respect for her subject matter and cultural responsibilities. Each of her paintings is typically accompanied by a Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) story that has been carried through unbroken lines of cultural knowledge for millennia.

Katie has exhibited widely throughout Australia and overseas, including as part of an official Australian Embassy exhibition in Korea. Her work is held in major public collections such as the National Gallery of Australia and the Parliament House Collection, as well as private and corporate collections across Australia and Europe. Her paintings offer not just beauty and storytelling, but a deep and enduring connection to Country, culture, and community.

Selected Collections

• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• Parliament House Collection, Canberra
• Broadmeadows Health Services Collection, Broadmeadows, VIC
• Private and Corporate Collections Australia and Europe

Selected Exhibitions

• 2023 Inspired: Collectors Edition, Cooee Art | Redfern
• 2007 Back To The Board, Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney, NSW
• 2006 Women from Texas Downs, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA
• 2006 Warmun Art Centre Presents, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney, NSW
• 2005 Warmun Group Show, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT
• 2004 POSCO Art Centre, Seoul, Korea – In conjunction with the Australian Embassy and Austrade, featuring Aboriginal artworks from across Australia, including the work of Warmun artist Katie Cox
• 2004 Big Country Show, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
• 2004 The Next Generation: Balgo and Warmun, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2002 Warmun Group Show, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA
• 2002 Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD
• 2002 Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2002 Colleen Carter, Tommy Carroll and Katie Cox, Span Gallery, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC
• 2002 Collectors Show, in association with Seva Frangos, Span Gallery, Flinders St, Melbourne, VIC
• 2001 Grand Opening Exhibition, Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD
• 2001 Four Warmun Ngarliwarrin (Women), Artplace, Perth, WA
• 2000 State of My Country, Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
• 2000 Katie Cox and Tommy Carroll, Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra, ACT
• 1999 Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
• 1999 Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
• 1999 Desert Designs, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA

I have depicted one of our many dreamtime stories. This hill is known as Garlumboony (meaning spear hill).

This is a special dreaming place located in my country of Ngarragarroon (Texas Downs) where a long time ago in the Ngarrankarni our Gija people would do trading with the ocean and seaside tribes for many years. It was on this very hill where the trading between the two tribes would take place – the swap would often be sea shells for spears. Until one day two men from each of the tribe started to argue over their trading, where it ended terribly as one of the men ended up being killed. All of the trading then stopped completely on top of this now sacred hill and this was where all the spears and sea shells were dropped and just left there.