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Arrernte and Southern Luritja artist Sally M Nangala Mulda alongside Arrernte and Western Arrarnta artist Marlene Rubuntja have developed their practice to be completely recognisable and representative of the place in which they live, Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Working from Tangentyere Artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists (art centres), these senior women have established themselves as two of Australia’s leading visual artists.

The third Artbank + ACMI Commission, Two Girls From Amoonguna, encompasses video, soft sculpture and paintings, with the centerpiece the animated work titled Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls.

Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls delves into the reality of First Peoples’ experiences in Central Australia by chronicling the artists’ successes and struggles. The work centres Sally and Marlene’s voices, as well as the voices of their younger family members, who can be heard in the animation. It was made in collaboration with Ludo Studio, the Emmy-award winning production company behind Bluey, Robbie Hood and The Strange Chores, along with script writer Courtney Collins, Left of Elephant Sound and Tangentyere Artists producer Ellanor Webb.

Figures from Marlene’s soft sculptures and Sally’s acrylic on linen paintings star in the animation, embedded on top of Marlene’s ink on paper works of the Central Australian landscape. Bringing together both artists’ practice, Sally’s iconic cursive painted lettering produce the subtitles.

Having grown up at the Amoonguna Settlement outside of Mparntwe/Alice Springs in the early 1960s, the two friends wouldn’t reconnect until much later in life, after both of them had seen their fair amount of hardships; now having achieved so much, they are immensely proud of one another.

Two Girls from Amoonguna is an exhibition about two of Australia’s leading artists and their journey to get there.

IMAGES:

1/ Sally M Nangala Mulda at Tarnanthi, 2019

2/ Marlene Rubuntja holding a soft echidna sculpture

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Congratulations to Sally Anderson who is a finalist in this year's Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize with her work ‘Sea Town Lawn Roof Song with NO’s Vessel.’

IMAGE:

Sally Anderson

Sea Town Lawn Roof Song with NO’s Vessel 2023

acrylic on canvas

115 x 97 cm

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Sally M Nangala Mulda is a finalist in the 2023 Sulman Prize.

Old man pay day

Daughter and father drinking beer. Down the creek one woman got two tail. Two man coming with the beer two rum with the bag

Two rum and two coca cola in the bag

Woman taking tail

Man taking rum and coca cola with the bag

Man taking beer at the creek

Sally M Nangala Mulda, 2023

Sally M Nangala Mulda’s work is a form of documentary storytelling. She started painting in 2008 and has frequently portrayed town camp life since the 2007 Northern Territory intervention: people camping in the riverbed in swags, council rangers moving people on, people cooking kangaroo tail down the creek. Her practice represents an important catalogue of lived experience of town camp life and colonisation.

Read more here.

Sally M Nangala Mulda

Old man pay day

acrylic on linen

59.5 x 91.5 cm

Judith Sinnamon is a finalist in the 2023 Archibald Prize.

‘Katharine often appears on the Insiders panel, where she brings a refreshing, cut-through perspective to the fug of Australian politics,’ says Sinnamon. ‘I feel tremendous gratitude towards Katharine and all journalists of strong conviction and integrity, who speak truth to power at a time of rampant misinformation and media mogul influence.’

Murphy has worked in the parliamentary press gallery in Kamberri/Canberra since 1996. She is currently political editor of Guardian Australia and the host of a weekly podcast, Australian politics. She is the author of On disruption, an analysis of the impact of the internet on journalism.

Sinnamon captures the award-winning journalist, with her colourful clothing and animated face, listening to the podcast Pod save America in her light-filled home.

‘During our sitting, I drew loose charcoal sketches and took numerous photos,’ says Sinnamon. ‘I then returned to my [Sunshine Coast] Hinterland studio and began the month-long process of rendering Katharine’s portrait – my first in the Archibald Prize.’

- Art Gallery New South Wales

IMAGE:

Judith Sinnamon

Katharine Murphy 2023

oil on linen

104.2 x 134 cm

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Eliza Gosse is a finalist in the 2023 Archibald Prize.

This dual portrait features Eliza Gosse and her husband, architect and designer Benjamin Jay Shand, who was the subject of her portrait 'somewhere near home' in the Archibald Prize 2022.

Gosse describes this 2023 work – one of several recent portraits, all painted on board – as: 'a cut-out of our weekend at sunrise – just us and our fluffy robes.'

Robes are mandatory if you come to breakfast at ours. The coffee percolates as the muesli is garnished and the CD is chosen. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every morning could be spent lazing over several cups of coffee with a dash of honey and a side of strawberries?

While painting these portraits in my studio, I indulged in a few afternoons on the floor – tea and biscuits included – with the works propped up against the wall, as a sort of tea party with my wooden friends.

My studio mates will be glad to see these cut-outs gone; they say they came to life at night.

- Eliza Gosse

IMAGE:

Eliza Gosse

Breakfast At Ours

oil on board

two panels: 137.5 x 86.5 cm (left); 145.5 x 97 cm (right)

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Belem Lett is a finalist in the 2023 Omnia Art Prize with his works 'These Peaks Watch Over You' and 'Eclipse'. The Omnia Art Prize is one of Australia’s premier art awards and exhibitions for contemporary art. Read more here.

Artworks:

These Peaks Watch Over You

oil, clear primer on brushed aluminium composite panel

150 x 120 cm

2022

Eclipse

clear coat, acrylic, gesso, wood putty, screws, wood glue, pine

82 x 42 x 28 cm

2023

Eliza Gosse was featured in The Design Files article 'Eliza Gosse's Paintings Capture the Nostalgia of Retro Architecture' by Christina Karras.

There’s a magical attention to detail within Eliza Gosse's architectural paintings.

She expertly captures the light-filled interiors and magical Modernist facades of homes inspired by designs of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s with a dreamy pastel palette that makes you want to leap right into them. All the while maintaining a beautiful ‘flatness’ about her work.

- Christina Karras, The Design Files

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Jane Guthelben was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald article 'How does it feel to be painted for the Archibald Prize? Terrifying' by Helen Pitt.

You can read the article here.

Congratulations to Belem Lett who is a finalist in this year's Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize with his work 'Vertical Horizon'.

The Bayside Painting Prize is the only annual painting prize held in Melbourne, with specific focus on artists with a variety of approaches to the painted medium. The Bayside Painting Prize is one of the most generous non-acquisitive painting prizes in Australia. This allows the Bayside City Council to continue to promote artists to the Bayside community and support painters across Australia.

IMAGE:
Belem Lett
Vertical Horizon 2023
Oil, gesso, marble dust on aluminium composite panel
122 x 94 cm

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Congratulations to Vipoo Srivilasa who has been awarded the Visual Arts and Crafts Strategy (VACS) Major Commissioning Projects grant. Vipoo is a recipient of $100,000 to realise a major project 'Re/JOY' in collaboration with the Australian Design Centre. 'Re/JOY' is a collaborative, community-driven project designed to engage with overseas-born Australians.

'Re/JOY' will examine the emotional connection we form with objects by retelling migration stories and experiences. The project aims to provoke the complex feelings associated with overseas relocation and the difficult process of gaining Australian permanent residency.

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Image: Vipoo Srivilasa and the Happy Australian Sculptures at the National Portrait Gallery. Photo by Liv Cameron 2023.