Perth based artist Wendy Hayden was born in Katanning in the region known as the Great South West of Western Australia. Raised in a strong Noongar household, Hayden was encouraged by her father to be proud of her heritage and gather strength from it. Her mother was one of the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children and it is from her mother’s stories that Hayden draws the inspiration for her painting. As an artist Hayden is known as WendyKA, a name that identifies her place of birth and her heritage country.
In 2008 Hayden participated in the group exhibitions 'Spirit of Carrolup’ (Albany Town Hall as part of Perth International Arts Festival) and in the Exmouth NAIDOC Week exhibition. She was also a finalist in the 2008 Armadale Indigenous Art Awards.
In 2009 Hayden enrolled in Kidogo Art Institute’s Certificate III course in Visual Art and Contemporary Craft which is run by art teacher, Joanna Robertson. This same year Hayden was included in the group exhibition 'Moorditj Mob’, which showcased many of the students work (as well as some others) at the Kidogo Arthouse in Fremantle. Her work was then included in 'Noongar Country’ (2009) curated by Troy Bennell at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries. Other artists in this group show included Iesha Farmer , Ronald Williams, Lance Chad, Sharyn Egan, Janet Hansen, Dolores Fraser (Jillawarra), Troy Bennell, Athol Farmer, Graham (Swag) Taylor and Laurel Nannu
An active community member, Hayden worked on the Minnawarra Festival in Armadale in 2008 and is a member of a local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group. She also facilitates arts workshops for Aboriginal women.
Hayden’s work is held in the permanent collection of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia.
