Sydney-based artist and musician Blak Douglas has taken out the $100,000 dollar top prize at the 2022 Archibald portrait competition.
The Dhungatti man won for his portrait of Karla Dickens, a fellow artist based on Bundjalung Country.
The painting, titled 'Moby Dickens', depicts the Wiradjuri woman standing knee-deep in the devastating Lismore floods from earlier this year, a hardened expression clouding her face as storm clouds threaten from above.
With his win, Douglas becomes the second Aboriginal artist to claim the Archibald Prize in the competition's 101 year history.
"I’m elated to be the first New South Wales First Nations artist to have won with a painting of a New South Wales First Nations artist," he said.
"It’s a major historic win,' he said.
Douglas explained that the inspiration for the work came from being in Lismore after the first deluge in January.
Douglas stands before his winning portrait, 'Moby Dickens'.
'[I] saw the shock and horror on people’s faces," he said.
"Karla had just reached a pivotal point in her career and almost immediately the flood catastrophe happened.
"So, when she should have ordinarily been excited about where her career was going, she was harbouring three families in Lismore as part of her own rescue mission."
At 3x2 metres, the portrait is the largest of this year's entries.
As Lismore residents continue to struggle in the aftermath of the unprecedented destruction, the big bold winner of the Archibald may provide a reminder that the region is still a long way from recovery.
