abc.net.au/news/keith-wikmunea-winner-natsiaa-darwin/102718644Thu' Apalech man and "master of carving" Keith Wikmunea has won Australia's biggest and most prestigious Indigenous art award.
Speaking at the exhibition of finalists in Darwin, he said the work took more than two months to hand carve and paint with traditional ochre.Keith Wikmunea's work is carved from milkwood and painted with ochre. Ms Raymond said this year's NATSIAA exhibition featured 63 artists from 47 language groups across the country, with works spanning a variety of mediums.Gurindji, Malngin and Mudburra woman Brenda Croft won the Work on Paper award for her piece called blood/memory: Brenda & Christopher II, which depicts the artist and her son.
"I want people to know you can look like me, you can look like my son — we carry all of those people [ancestors] within us."Julie Nangala Robertson won the General Painting Award for her painting titled Mina Mina.The Yuendumu-born artist said Mina Mina was the name of an "extremely important ceremonial site for Napangardi and Napanangka women".Just Beneath the Surface by Jimmy John Thaiday is a five-minute video depicting the artist's connection to the ocean.