Kudditji Kngwarreye was born around 1928 at Alhalkere on Utopia Station, about 270 km north-east of Alice Springs. An Eastern Anmatyerre man, he was the brother of the renowned artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

As a young man he travelled widely through the Central Desert, working as a stockman and at times in mineral and gold mines. A senior Anmatyerre elder, he was custodian of ceremonial sites on his Country at Utopia, including Boundary Bore, where men’s initiation ceremonies are held.

Kudditji passed away in Alice Springs in January 2017.

Inspired by the desert art movement that began at Papunya under teacher Geoffrey Bardon, Kudditji began painting his Dreamings in acrylic on canvas in the mid-1980s, a couple of years before his sister Emily took up the brush and transformed Aboriginal art.

His early paintings reflected his traditional upbringing, using very fine dots and symbols for the Men’s Ceremonies and Emu Dreaming of the Utopia region, of which he was cultural custodian. This strong, traditional work found immediate recognition and was highly sought after.

From around 2003 he set the dots aside, painting his Country in broad, loaded brushstrokes of blended colour. These vibrant colour-field works, often titled My Country, confirmed his reputation, like his sister’s, as a true innovator.