The exquisite works on paper by leading Indigenous artist Shane Pickett are on display at Charles Darwin University.
The exhibition Bibble Waargning – Paper talk is being held by CDU’s Northern Editions in association with Indigenart: The Mossenson Galleries.
The exhibition showcases the Six Seasons Suite, a deluxe boxed suite of six etchings and a recent series of acrylics on paper. Pickett’s moving and ethereal works combine his deep knowledge of the Nyoongar culture with a confident and individual style of gestural abstraction.
In August 2005 Pickett took part in a week-long printmaking workshop at Northern Editions where the artist collaborated with printmaker Dian Damansjah to create the etching plates for the Six Seasons Suite.
This workshop represented the first time the artist had explored the printmaking medium and the resulting series of works exquisitely depict Pickett’s deep understanding of the land and the seasonal cycles of Nyoongar people.
The works signified a turning point in Pickett’s artistic style with subsequent works becoming more abstract.
Born 1957 in Quairading in the south-west of Western Australia, Shane Pickett has been painting for more than 30 years and is one of the foremost Indigenous artists working in Australia today.
In 2007 Pickett’s work was included in the major National Gallery of Australia exhibition Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial, confirming his status as one of the country’s leading Indigenous artists.
Pickett has been selected as a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award 13 times and has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including the inaugural Sunshine Coast (Queensland) Art Prize and the Joondalup (Western Australian) Invitation Art Award in 2006.
Bibble Waargning – Paper talk is on show until 31 July and is open to the public from 10am to 5pm weekdays in the Northern Editions gallery located in Building Orange 9, at the University’s Casuarina campus.
Northern Editions has been collaborating with artists since 1993 to produce limited edition prints and now represents many artists from across the Top End, Central Australia and the Kimberley region.
For further details contact Emma Fowler-Thomason on (08) 8946 6325 or visit www.northerneditions.com.au. A map of the Casuarina campus is located at www.cdu.edu.au/campusmaps.