Past dreamings move into the moment

Past dreamings move into the moment

The opening of the Red Desert Dreamings Gallery at South Wharf last month showed that Aboriginal art is being taken in exciting new directions.

The gallery has “discovered” sisters Tarrise and Sarrita King who, according to gallery director Kevin Winward, are the future.

Apart from their artistic talent, what impresses Mr Winward is the girls’ attitude. Tarisse, 23, and Sarrita, 21, are confident, hard working and ambitious.  

“They are just so comfortable and relaxed with who they are,” he said.  “These girls are really going to make an impression in the art world.”

The girls’ father was William King Jungala, a renowned Gurindji tribe contemporary artist who died in 2007.   Their mother is English.

Tarisse learned to paint when she moved from Darwin when she was 16 to join her father in Adelaide.

“Dad was a contemporary, abstract painter and I’ve never lived in a community.  So what Sarrita and I are doing is very different to what you might expect,” Tarrise said.

“My inspiration comes from my aboriginality and my style comes from what I learned from my father.”

The girls’ art is a hybrid of traditional inspiration and techniques mixed with mesmerising graphical application and appeal.

The girls are exhibiting in Europe this year and their works have featured in more than 20 exhibitions.

To be a full-time artist at 23, speaks volumes about the future for Tarisse King and her sister.

“I want to bring a new generation of Aboriginal art to the world,” Tarisse said.

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