Born in Lajamanu, Karen Napaljarri Barnes is part of the flourishing next generation of artists to emerge from Warlukurlangu; an Aboriginal owned and governed Art Centre, located 290km North West from Alice Springs along the Tanami Highway.
At Warlukurlangu, Karen spent much of her time with her grandmother, the well known artist Judy Napangardi Watson. Judy taught and encouraged Karen to paint and depict important cultural traditions and the local birds and animals, with whom Karen found an inspiring subject matter.
The subject of many of Karen Barnes’s painting are the many ‘jurlpu’ (bird) species that live around Yuendumu.In recent years, Karen Barnes has captured the attention of the Australian art scene for her technicolour renditions of Budgerigar Dreaming (Ngatijirri Jukurrpa). The artist’s figurative style is striking for its use of strong colour to model form, favouring bold and contrasting colours. The naive-style depiction of these quizzical critters exude great charm and presence. Barnes’s technique extends an existing Warlukurlangu penchant for innovative colour, of which her grandmother was one of the founding tastemakers
