Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford (circa 1920/1922 – 14 July 2007), aka Goowoomji, was a contemporary Aboriginal Australian painter and printmaker from Warmun in the Kimberley in Western Australia.
When the law in 1969 required equal pay for black and white alike, station owners responded by laying off their indigenous workforce, including Bedford.
[citation needed] Although strongly influenced by traditional techniques and iconography from The Dreaming, it also addresses black-white relationships and historical events in his country.
For examples, his pieces Doowoonan (2005) and Mount King (2005) both feature ambiguous, bright red and blue figures that rest on a black background.
[5] Bedford also explores a wide range of mediums, including ochre pigments with acrylic binder on canvas and board, as well as gouaches and pastels on paper.
[5] Bedford retired at Turkey Creek—a Warmun Aboriginal community established in the beginning of the 1970s that sought to provide shelter for workers that had been displaced due to the change in employment conditions.
[3] He began painting for exhibition after the establishment of the Jirrawun Aboriginal Art group at Rugun, a small community 50 km (31 mi) north of Warmun, in 1998 by Freddie Timms and Tony Oliver.