The Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) will be held August 9 at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) on Larrakia Country (Darwin).
Awards nominee Thea Perkins told National Indigenous Times she feels "incredibly honoured" to be among the 72 finalists.
"I've always admired the Telstra NATSIAA awards as they've always had work by extraordinary artists, giants of beautiful, profound expression. It's a dream to be included," she said.
Perkins, a proud Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman, is inspired by her Indigenous culture and local upbringing.
"I grew up and work on Gadigal land in Sydney, but am also very connected to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and I feel the pull of the desert very strongly and go as often as I can. I think it's these two places that have been a powerful influence on my practice. I was struck by the dynamism of desert painting and the phenomenal painting movements that found their genesis there," she said.
"As well as the language of the contemporary and historical examples of Western art on the East Coast. I was also very fortunate that my mum is a curator, so I was exposed to a lot of art and wonderful artists - and knew it was something I could pursue. I've always drawn, and it would always be my way of expressing my emotions and interpreting the world. It can be a very effective means of communication."
2024 marks the second time Perkins has been nominated as a finalist in the awards, and she is being celebrated for her recent work, 'Return'.
"'Return' was painted from 2022-2024, it is inspired by a slide of my family on the road to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in the seventies, bogged after rain. This work takes a small jewel-like record and in the process of enlarging extrudes and amplifies its essence. Playing with the icons of red centre sands, the road stretching as far as the eye can see and the Holden Kingswood," she said.
"In this work I was particularly interested in the contrast of detail and rhythm. There is a sense of the distilled eternal. A moment of being for the central figures. It is a departure in bringing together my landscape and portraiture practice, as well as a consolidation of what I learned during an international residency last year.
"It speaks to maintaining connection within the shifting sands of history. There is something integral to First Nations experience in the sometimes epic journey to return to country; but also a shared universal experience of going home."
On the role art plays in preserving and sharing Indigenous culture and stories, Perkins believes "art is amazing in that it can communicate abstract notions, as well as appeal to people on an emotional and even spiritual level".
"It can foster an appreciation of culture and stories, and in this way it can really bridge divides in understanding and shift ways of thinking. Aboriginal culture is a national treasure and should be treated that way," she said.
When it comes to navigating the balance between traditional Indigenous art forms and contemporary influences in her work, Perkins shares that all her works "start with my context and culture as an Aboriginal person".
"From there I take a philosophical or interpretive lens and utilise a contemporary vernacular to communicate my ideas," she said.
"I'm interested in language that a broad range of people might understand, and it is an appropriation of Western visual language in many ways. In this way I hope to meld Aboriginal world views into the collective imagination."
Perkins has a series of projects and plans in place for the remainder of 2024.
"I have a show opening at N. Smith Gallery on the 15th of August, 2024 . It will be a continuation of my work in portraiture, taking them in a direction," she said.
"I can't wait to share these works."
The exhibition showcasing the Telstra NATSIAA finalists will run until the 27th January 2025.
For more fashion, beauty and lifestyle news subscribe for free to the Style Up newsletter.
