Colleen Kantawarra

Colleen is daughter of Anmanari Napanangka Nolan, an accomplished painter and one of the most important old ladies in Haasts Bluff. Colleen’s childhood in Papunya and later Haast’s Bluff was filled with days of hunting for bush tucker, a motif which is now richly represented in her works. Seeking out honey ants, bush bananas, bush tomatoes, bush onions, and bush berries as a child now informs the colors and shapes of Colleen Nakamara Kantawarra’s abstracted realism paintings, which suggest to the viewer a land of milk and honey, rather than the spinifex desert of our coastal understanding. Working also with traditional designs, Colleen again demonstrates the importance of bush tucker dreamings, or the many bush tucker tjukurrpas, which map the diverse varieties of edible plants and animals found in her country. Interpereting her stories, Colleen’s palette is rich and energised, often surprising, contemporary and deeply honest. Growing up in a family of painters, Collen was introduced to canvas and brush at an early age, and her dedication to her art is clearly visible in her works. One of the Ikuntji Artists’ Studios emerging artists Colleen Nakamara Kantawarra brings a fresh perspective to a deeply traditional artform.

Luritja

Haasts Bluff

Past Exhibitions

Solo

  • 2002
    'Ikuntji Languru', Darwin.

Group

  • 2020
    'Story Necklace' exhibition, South Australian Museum, Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, Adelaide.
  • 2018
    Desert Mob Market Place 2018, , Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs., 6th, 7th and 8th September
  • 2017
    Desert Mob Marketplace 2017, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
  • 2017
    11th Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin.
  • 2017
    Blak Markets at Barrangaroo, Sydney.
  • 2017
    'One Country - Many Stories', Colin Biggers & Paisley Foundation, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.
  • 2017
    'Ngurra Kutju - Tjukurrpa Tjuta, One Country - Many Stories', Exhibition at Colin Biggers & Paisley, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.
  • 2016
    Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs NT
  • 2016
    'Entre terre et ciel', La Grande Galerie, Savasse, France.
  • 2016
    'Chants du Desert - Art aborigene contemporain', La Chapelle du College dEu, Ville dEu, France.
  • 2016
    WOMADELAIDE, Adelaide.
  • 2015
    'Kaléidoscope millénaire avec les artistes dIkuntji', Aboriginal Signature - Estrangin Fine Art, Brussels, Belgium.
  • 2015
    Tarnanthi Festival Art Fair, Tandanya Institute. Adelaide.
  • 2015
    Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
  • 2014
    'Artitja: The Gift Collection - Art + Objects', Artitja Fine Art, Fremantle.
  • 2010
    Desert Mob, Araluen, Alice Springs.
  • 2010
    Ochre Gallery, Melbourne.
  • 2008
    'Ikuntji', Desert Sands Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Mayfair London, United Kingdom.
  • 2007
    'Ikuntji', Victoria Carroll and Jennifer Guerrini Maraldi, Battersea London, United Kingdom.
  • 2007
    'kuntji Now', Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane QLD.
  • 2006
    'Where The Wild Flowers Grow', Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane.
  • 2003
    Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.
  • 2001
    Desert Mob, Araluen, Alice Springs.

Collections

  • Colin Biggers & Paisley Foundation, Brisbane