Kay Baker

Kay Baker Paintings

Quick Facts

  • Full Name: Kay Baker

  • Born: Early 1950s

  • Place of Birth / Origin: Palvwell, a birthing place near Ernabella (Pukatja), South Australia

  • Current Community: Kanpi, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia

  • Language Group / People: Pitjantjatjara

  • Father: Jimmy Baker, celebrated senior artist and Law Man of the APY Lands

  • Children: Include artists Teresa Baker and Patricia (Kani) Tunkin Baker

  • Granddaughter: Clarise Tunkin, emerging artist

  • Painting Since: Learned batik and basket weaving in the 1970s at Fregon Arts Centre; later moved into acrylic painting

  • Art Centre: A founding figure of Tjungu Palya Arts Centre, Kanpi; current Director

  • Main Themes: Minyma Malilu, Kalaya Tjukurpa (Emu Dreaming)

  • Primary Medium: Acrylic on linen/canvas

Kay Baker is a senior Pitjantjatjara artist and cultural leader from Kanpi in the APY Lands of northern South Australia. The daughter of the celebrated artist and Law Man Jimmy Baker, Kay has spent decades as both a painter in her own right and a driving force behind the establishment of the communities and art centres that now support her family's remarkable artistic legacy.

Browse Investment Art

Early Life and Family

Kay was born in the early 1950s at Palvwell, a traditional birthing place near Ernabella (Pukatja) Mission, where her father Jimmy Baker had settled in the early 1930s. She began school at around 10 years of age, and at 12 moved with her family back to her mother's Country near Mimili (Everard Park), where her father worked tending sheep, shearing and fencing in the surrounding stations.

At around 15, Kay moved with her family to Fregon (Kaltjiti), briefly attending Yirara Lutheran College in Alice Springs before returning to Fregon, where she took up a role at the local arts centre. It was there that she learned batik and basket weaving from her aunty, Wipana Jimmy, and spent around 15 years working at the art centre. During this period she married and raised five children, including artists Patricia Tunkin and Teresa Baker, who have since built significant reputations of their own.

Establishing Kanpi and Watarru

In 1985, Kay moved with her father and other family members to the newly established settlement of Kanpi, which at the time consisted of little more than a shed doubling as a shop and two houses. Alongside her family, Kay played a key role in building the Kanpi and Watarru communities, later becoming a driving force behind the establishment of the Tjungu Palya Arts Centre at Kaltjiti, of which she remains a Director today. She now divides her time between Kanpi, Watarru and Alice Springs.

Shop One Week Special

Artistic Practice

Kay paints with considerable seniority and cultural authority, drawing on Tjukurpa closely connected to her father's Country around Kanpi. Her best-known body of work depicts Minyma Malilu, a significant ancestral story concerning an elderly spiritual woman who dug a cave to watch over her daughter after the younger woman ran away with an unsanctioned suitor, in defiance of traditional kinship law. Kay's paintings of this story often depict the cave where Malilu lived out her life, along with the surrounding waterways and native bush tucker that sustained her.

Alongside Minyma Malilu, Kay is also recognised for her paintings of Kalaya Tjukurpa, the Emu Dreaming. Her style is varied and dynamic, and she is particularly sought after for her richly textured dotting technique and confident use of bright, vibrant colour.

Artistic Legacy

Kay comes from one of the most significant artistic families associated with the APY Lands art movement. Her father, Jimmy Baker, became one of the most highly regarded senior artists of the region, and Kay has carried that legacy forward both as an artist and as a community leader. Her daughters, Teresa Baker and Patricia (Kani) Tunkin Baker, have gone on to become widely exhibited artists in their own right, and her granddaughter, Clarise Tunkin, continues the family's tradition as an emerging artist.

Kay's own paintings are held in major Australian public collections and have featured in significant exhibitions, including Desert Country at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Desert Mob at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs, and the touring exhibition PRO COMMUNITY: Western APY Lands in Germany. Her work continues to be sought after through galleries specialising in authentic Aboriginal art from the APY Lands.

Contact Us

Discover Authentic Aboriginal Art

If you are interested in collecting authentic works by Kay Baker or other respected APY Lands artists, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery offers a carefully curated selection sourced from reputable Aboriginal-owned art centres and trusted galleries.

Whether you are beginning your collection or adding to an established one, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery provides genuine Indigenous artworks that honour Australia's rich cultural heritage while supporting Aboriginal artists and their communities.

Contact Us for Authentic Aboriginal Arts