Kaye is a senior Tiwi culture woman. She is well versed in the old ways, traditional stories and speaks the ‘hard’ Tiwi language. She started painting at Jilamara Arts and Craft later in life after she retired from work. Prior to this she taught at the local primary school and worked at the Milikapiti Library. She loves teaching culture to the local primary school children who come to Jilamara for culture classes in the Museum. She has a wealth of local knowledge about Tiwi culture and the history of the Tiwi people and ancestors.

She uses the Kayimwagakimi (carved ironwood comb) and natural ochres for Melville Island to paint. Her jilamara (body paint design) and pwoja (body) styles are very layered and reminiscent of some of the old Tiwi artists and the body painting styles hey used to prepare for ceremony and yoi (dance).

Kaye paints on canvas, linen and paper, but is particularly drawn to painting on stringybark sourced from around Milikapiti. Although joining the art centre later in life, Kaye is gaining recognition as a leading female artist at Jilamara. Her first solo exhibition in 2020 at Aboriginal and Pacific was met with public acclaim, and she followed it up with another successful show in 2022. She has been a finalist in the Telstra NATSIA Awards twice and was a significant part of the major TIWI Exhibition at NGV Australia in 2020/21. Kaye also has a very successful design as part of Jilamara’s screen printed textiles line, which was part of the North Tiwi Strong Women’s Collection.

Courtesy of Jilamara Arts and Crafts