Pansy Napangardi was born at Haasts Bluff in the late 1940s and was moved with the settlement to Papunya in the early 1960s. She is a major painter in what is today known as the Papunya Tula

Papunya Tula

Papunya Tula, or Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 that is owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative work with the Western Desert Art Movement, popularly referred to as "dot painting"...

 movement. She is from the Warlpiri

Warlpiri

The Warlpiri are a group of Indigenous Australians, many of whom speak the Warlpiri language. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered through their traditional land in Australia's Northern Territory, north and west of Alice Springs...

 language group.

Although she observed the men's painting business there, she is one of the rare women associated with Papunya Tula who did not serve an apprenticeship with the men. She sold her works independently in Alice Springs at first, but during the 1980s she became the pre-eminent woman painter at Papunya Tula, winning the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award

National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award

The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award is one of the most prestigious art awards in Australia. Established in 1984 by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and awarded annually, it is sponsored by Telstra, so is commonly known as the Telstra Award.Prize-winners...

(NATSIAA) in 1989. She is associated with the Jukurrpa group of women artists in Alice Springs where she lives today.