Editorial Feature

KTAFA × Vogue Living

Antakirinja/Yankunytjatjara/Kokatha artists T'keyah Ware and Kelly Taylor featured in Vogue Living, discussing working with family and sharing their heritage with the world. The feature traces three generations of First Nations art — from Kelly's late grandmother Millie Taylor through to T'keyah's emerging practice and the family's signature \\"creeper dots\\" style.

All collaborations Meet the artists →

Generations of family artists

29 yrs

Kelly painting on and off

T'keyah's age when she began

Aug 2020

Vogue Living feature

The feature

A mother-daughter duo, steeped in history

Vogue Living profiled Kelly Taylor and T'keyah Ware as a mother-daughter duo producing exquisite First Nations art steeped in history. The feature traces the family's artistic lineage across three generations, from Kelly's late grandmother Millie Taylor through to T'keyah's emerging practice, and explores the deep cultural connection between family, Country and art that has sustained the KTAFA family for decades.

The feature

Three generations of First Nations art

Vogue Living profiled Kelly Taylor and T'keyah Ware as a mother-daughter duo producing exquisite First Nations art steeped in history. The feature traces the family's artistic lineage across three generations, from Kelly's late grandmother Millie Taylor (nee Lennon) through to T'keyah's emerging practice.

Kelly, of the Antikirinja/Yankunytjatjara/Kokatha peoples, has been painting for nearly 30 years. She tells Vogue Living that it was her grandmother who first convinced her to pick up the brush: "My nana Millie was my teacher, she always encouraged me to paint and passed many ancient stories down along the way."

"Following her example I passed down what I learnt to my three daughters," Kelly says. "T'keyah was the only one that did take what she learnt on board; she started to paint and before we knew it, she was creating some amazing paintings."

My nana Millie was my teacher, she always encouraged me to paint and passed many ancient stories down along the way, following her example I passed down what I learnt to my three daughters.
Kelly Taylor, in conversation with Vogue Living

The practice

Creeper dots — ancient art, contemporary expression

Kelly and T'keyah create their pieces together at home in South Australia. Their signature dot painting style — which they call "creeper dots" — blends and overlaps colours to bring out the beauty of ancient art merging with contemporary expression, while keeping their symbols traditional.

"Our dot painting style we call creeper dots, we blend and overlap colours to bring out the beauty eye-catching effect of ancient art merging with traditional and contemporary art," Kelly explains.

T'keyah, who began painting at 13, has inherited her great-grandmother's ancient style and painting technique but has developed her own voice. "My daughter has inherited her great grandmother's ancient style and painting technique but has her own technique," Kelly says. "Her style is similar to mine and nanas but it's different too — all you have to do is look at the vibrant colours in her paintings that she mixes herself."

Working with my mum is sometimes frustrating because we do argue and fight over colours and designs — she wants it her way and I want it my way — but we end up coming together after all the arguing and we finally work it out. She supports me 100 per cent.
T'keyah Ware

The stories

Childhood days on Country

The stories behind each KTAFA painting are rooted in Kelly's childhood on Country. The family hunted and gathered traditional foods, played on the red sand hills of Ernabella (now Pukatja), Fregon (now Kaltjiti), Ayers Rock (now Uluru), Indulkana, Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and Port Augusta.

"We would camp surrounded by trees, wild flowers, sand hills and plenty of water holes to swim in and sit by the campfire on country and listening to our nanas and other elders telling stories," Kelly recalls. "These are my stories."

The paintings deftly blend vivid hues of green, blue, red and yellow with muted tones of browns and black — the colours of the desert, the waterholes, the campfires and the red sand hills that shaped the family's cultural identity.

The stories behind each painting are about my childhood days where my family hunted and gathered traditional foods, playing and rolling down beautiful red sand hills of Ernabella, Fregon, Ayers Rock, Indulkana, Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and Port Augusta, where we would camp surrounded by trees, wild flowers, sand hills and plenty of water holes to swim in and sit by the campfire on country and listening to our nanas and other elders telling stories. These are my stories.
Kelly Taylor

The legacy

A grandmother's legacy, carried forward

For Kelly, the Vogue Living feature is a celebration of the legacy left by her grandmother Millie Taylor — a legacy that continues to guide the family's art and cultural identity today.

"She always will be my greatest influence, she guided me into finding my identity through songs and stories of cultural beliefs and heritage," Kelly says. "She always encouraged me to paint and pass down many ancient stories along the way, she was my teacher, she left a legacy behind that was known by many in the communities she grew up in and places she lived."

Looking to the future, T'keyah hopes to continue learning from her mother and one day teach the next generation. "I will continue to learn from my mum until it's my time to teach," she says — ensuring that the family's stories, symbols and cultural knowledge will be carried forward for generations to come.

I've learnt a lot about my culture, Aboriginal art and how important it is for me to know more about my culture, storyline and family. I will continue to learn from my mum until it's my time to teach.
T'keyah Ware

Read the feature