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Here are the two mob-made paintings that won Australia's oldest art prizes

It's Doris Bush Nungarrayi's first time being a finalist, and now she's taken home the prestigious Sulman Prize, alongside Wynne winner Zaachariaha Fielding.

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Winner Wynne Prize 2023, Zaachariaha Fielding 'Inma', acrylic on linen, 306.2 x 198.5 cm. Credit: Jenni Carter/Image © Art Gallery of New South

He sings, he paints, and he wins. There isn't much Zaachariaha Fielding can't do.

The creative has won his first Wynne Prize for Inma, a homage to his home - Mimili, a small community in the eastern part of the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia.

The Wynne Prize is the oldest art prize, and is annually awarded for the best landscape painting of Australian scenery.
A very pleased winner, Mr Fielding was present at the Art Gallery of New South Wales when the prize was announced.

"I feel like dancing right now," he said.

"The work is music, and I am music. My work is a celebration and is a song in itself and the sound comes from my community."
Electric Fields
Mr Fielding is one half of the electric-pop duo Electric Fields, alongside producer Michael Ross. Credit: Don Arnold/WireImage
One-half of the award-winning duo Electric Fields, Mr Fielding said he'll be putting this experience into his music.

"I am going to write an amazing song about this experience! My heart is so full, I can't wait to tell my family," he said.

He briefly explained the motivations behind his art, saying it was a depiction of a childhood memory.

"This is a memory that I was able to document which happened in Paralpi. It’s a place that’s like the Sydney Opera House for the APY Lands! It’s where people come to embrace and celebrate children, teaching them how to move and mimic their clan emblem, and, for Mimili, this has always been the maku (witchetty grub)," he said.
"The atmosphere of this work is full of sound, movement and teaching. All of the communities are coming together, sharing their storylines.

"However, this platform is only for children. This is for the babies and it’s about them being taught by the masters, their Elders."

Not only did Mr Fielding take out a title but he was also a sitter for the Archibald Prize. His portrait was painted by Michael Simms for the award.

The Archibald was taken out by Sydney artist Julia Gutman for her depiction of singer-songwriter Montaigne.

The Sulman Prize

Senior Luritja artist Doris Bush Nungarrayi won the 2023 Sulman Prize for her work Mamunya ngalyananyi (Monster coming).

It is Ms Nungarrayi's first Sulman Prize, and her first time as a finalist for both the Sulman and Wynne Prize.
She is the second Aboriginal artist to ever win the Sulman. The Sulman Prize is awarded to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist.

The painting sees several Mamus, the ominous and malevolent spirits that haunt Aṉangu.

Ms Nungarrayi calls Mamus, "cheeky ones". They're said to have big eyes, and straight hair that stands on its end. It can transform into different forms and tuck itself away underground or seek shelter in hollow trees.
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Winner Sulman Prize 2023, Doris Bush Nungarrayi 'Mamunya ngalyananyi (Monster coming)', acrylic on linen, 198 x 273.5 cm. Credit: Jenni Carter/Art Gallery of New South Wales
"I really love how each figure in Doris Bush Nungarrayi’s painting has an individual character that is simultaneously scary and cheeky," said the judges.

"Yet collectively, these shapeshifters look like they are popping off the canvas and coming toward me, just as I am magnetically drawn to them. Mamunya Ngalyananyi (Monster coming) is a clear and powerful painting and a very deserving winner of the 2023 Sulman Prize."

Born in Iknutji, 250km west of Mparntwe, Ms Nungarrayi now lives in Papunya in the Northern Territory. Her art is biographical, either memories of home, stories she's heard or dreams she's had.

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4 min read
Published 5 May 2023 3:12pm
By Rachael Knowles
Source: NITV


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