The paintings of Kaylene Whiskey (b.1976, Australia) incorporate pop culture references alongside traditional Anangu culture, in a playful interpretation of the artist’s personal experience of contemporary life in a remote Central Australian Indigenous community.
Kaylene’s practice links the traditional culture of her community’s Elders with the experience of the younger generation who have grown up with contemporary, outside influences like Coca Cola and music videos.
Kaylene paints iconic figures such as Dolly Parton and Tina Turner, in a celebration of heroic women and the sisterhood. These pop culture icons are frequently painted into remote desert community landscapes, interacting with native plants and wildlife and engaging in traditional Anangu activities like hunting, collecting bush tucker and cultivating mingkulpa (native tobacco plant). Painted to a soundtrack of classic rock, pop and country music, Kaylene Whiskey’s paintings are rich in irreverent humour, with the artist bringing together two very different cultures and generations, inviting everyone to come together to have some fun.
Kaylene Whiskey was the winner of the Sir John Sulman Prize in 2018.