Over his 20 year career, Freddy Timms became renowned for his iconic aerial depictions of Country. Timms branches from more traditional aerial depictions within Western Desert painting, to instead trace the responses and refuges of his Gidja people as they faced the brutality of dispossession and colonisation.
Timms was born in 1944, at Police Hole, Bedford Station Downs. He grew up working on many of the stations around East Kimberly. Timms learned to paint in the 1980s, when a member of the Waringarri Arts Centre brought canvases to Jack Britten, Rover Thomas, Hector Jandany and his father-in-law, George Mung-Mung. Timms additionally asked for canvases to begin painting.
Timms painted in a style similar to his friend Thomas but with a distinctive flare. He's best known for his colour blocked expanses across the canvas, lined intricately with white dots. Timms was one of the few Western Desert painters who sought to politicise their work.Timms eventually founded Jirrawun Arts, in order to market works on a consignment basis for Kimberly artists.
Timms unfortunately passed away in 2017.