Thomas Untitled:2002 Natural ochre on canvas

Madigan Thomas
Untitled 2002
Natural ochre on canvas 120 x45cm
Catalogue:92002

    Madigan Thomas was born at Baloowa (Violet Valley), which lies south of Warmun. As a child she worked on the station, in the garden and doing domestic duties in the station house.  In the 1940s when Violet Valley Station closed down, she moved with her family to Mabel Downs Station where her father and brothers worked as stockmen.  As she grew older Thomas joined the men mustering cattle. When she did not have to work she spent a lot of time in the bush with the old people, learning the old bush ways.  She left Mabel Downs to move to Wyndham while her children went to school there, and when her children were 'grown up' she moved to Warmun Community.

    Thomas began painting in the mid-1980s along with well-known artist Queenie McKenzie and other Warmun women. She was one of the first artists to attempt to mix natural ochre and pigments to create a wider range of colours for artists to access, in particular greens, pinks, blues and greys.  Thomas began her career making painted-seed necklaces, coolamons and carved boab nuts for sale to passing tourists. Thomas was inspired to paint by watching old man Thomas and other Warmun artists work.  At Warmun she is active in local council, community issues and teaching culture to the younger generation. Thomas' daughter is Shirley Purdie, who is also a well-known artist. Thomas' dark, geometric landscapes contrast with her lighthearted depiction of bush animals to form a unique vision of the east Kimberley.

      Madigan Thomas is one of the elders of Warmun Community and is a strong law and culture woman.