Title: Studio self-portrait
2018
Artist: Vincent Namatjira
Australia
1983 –
Language group: Western Aranda, Central Desert region
The art centre documentation for this work states;
‘This is me in the studio, sitting and thinking after a hard day’s painting. In the background is the canvas I’m working on – so it’s really a painting within a painting. Painting is an ongoing battle; it’s me and the canvas, the paint and the brush. You never stop learning,’ he says.
‘I work in a busy art centre, and there’s always different music playing – country music, gospel, inma (cultural songs in language). It must have been rock ’n’ roll on this day because I’ve put on the Kiss t-shirt and Chuck Berry is playing his guitar back there on the canvas.
‘Behind the wheel of the green truck is my grandfather, Albert Namatjira. Painting is in my blood, it’s a part of our family. I admire the way that Albert made his own path with watercolour landscapes of his country. I’m finding my own way now with painting, and I want to keep fighting that battle in the studio every day.’