Lily Kelly Napangardi was born at Haasts Bluff NT in 1948. She moved to the newly established settlement of Papunya in the 1960’s. During her time in Papunya, Lily engaged in painting activities, notably assisting with works by her husband Norman Kelly. Lily returned to Mt Liebig with her husband in the early1980’s.
Lily is now one of the senior Law Women of the community, teaching the younger women traditional dancing and singing. Lily has three children and eleven grandchildren
Lily began painting in her own right in the early 1980’s, winning the Northern Territory Art Award for painting in 1986.
In her most recent works Lily paints sand hills, wind and ‘after rain’ in her country near Mt. Liebig and the Haasts Bluff area, in addition to depicting sandhills of the Kintore and Connistan areas. Lily holds authority over the Women Dreaming story associated with Kunajarrayi.
In addition to painting, Lily also works in several other mediums, including Spinifex basket making, carved wooden animals and ininti bead making.
Selected Group & Solo Exhibitions
• Desert Mob Show, Alice Springs 2000/2001/2002/2003
• Graham Marshall Gallery, Adelaide 2002/2003
• Telstra Awards 2003
• Neil Murphy Indigenous Art showing at Span Galleries, Melbourne, November 2003
• Neil Murphy Indigenous Art showing at Mary Place Gallery, Sydney 2004 with Lily Kelly Napangardi
Selected Collections
• The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, U.S.A.
• Holmes A Court Collection
• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• Queensland Art Gallery
• Thomas Vroom Collection, Amsterdam
• James Erskine Collection
• Artbank, Sydney
