A work by artists painting in the Hermannsburg watercolour tradition has been highly commended at this year’s Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
Knara Nunaka Tjurretja brings together in an innovative collaborative collage individual paintings by Gloria Pannka, Lenie Namatjira, Selma Coulthard, Ivy Pareroultja, Rienhold Inkamala and The Wirri Mob, all from the Alice Springs based Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra, Many Hands Art Centre. (Image above courtesy Many Hands. )
At three metres wide the work presents a sweeping view of the Arrernte artists’ beloved country in the West MacDonnell Ranges.
The ‘highly commended’ caps off what has already been a big year for Many Hands, with their legacy celebrated in a major exhibition at Araluen, Five Generations, and a significant mural commission just completed.
Other highly commended artists in this year’s awards are: Daniel O’Shane for Dari (vinyl cut relief print); Lily Nungarrayi Hargraves for Turkey Dreaming (acrylic on canvas); Owen Yalandja for Yawkyawk (ochre on bark); Gunybi Ganambarr for Ngalkan (hand etched watertanker); and Nora Holland for The Last Bush People to the Warburton Mission (acrylic on wood, shallow profile light box).