Julie Woods Baker Biography

DOB: 1980
Born: Pitjantjatjari Yankunytjatjara Lands, SA, Central Desert Region
Language: Pitjantjatjari
Paintings: Women's Dreaming, My Grandmother's Country

Julie Woods Baker is an emerging Pitjantjatjara artist from the APY Lands in northern South Australia, residing in Kanpi. Born at Irruntju (Wingellina), WA, she moved across the state border as a child and later attended Yirra T’jarra College in Alice Springs

Julie carries a rich artistic legacy: her mother, Elaine Woods, is a respected painter, and her grandmother, Maringka Baker, is a senior artist whose vibrant work is held in major Australian collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Under their guidance, Julie learned to paint sacred Country and ancestral narratives rooted in Pitjantjatjara lore, inheriting Dreaming stories, such as the Two Sisters, from her grandmother.

Julie paints with a distinctive style: richly layered warm tones, finely dotted patterns, and thoughtful compositions that trace the contours of her Country and Dreaming lineage. Her work, including My Grandmother’s Country and Minyma Kutjara (Two Women) Dreaming, maps ancestral travel routes, sacred sites, and familial connections through generations.

Her paintings feature in exhibitions like Strength in Beauty (Japingka, 2021) and have attracted international interest through auction platforms. Julie also collaborates with community textile projects, such as chain stitched designs reproduced as high quality wool cushions.

Balancing cultural custodianship and contemporary expression, Julie Woods Baker transforms inherited stories into vibrant works that resonate locally and globally. As she advances her artistic career, she cements her place among the new generation of Aboriginal artists shaping the future of Indigenous art.