Rosella Namok

Ungkum (Angkum)
b.1979

Rosella Namok was born in 1979 and belongs to the Ungkum-speaking people of east Cape York. She lives and works in the Aboriginal community of Lockhart River, where she is a leading member of the Lockhart River Art Gang. The Art Gang is a group of around 15 artists, mostly under 30 years of age. Much of their work explores the daily life of the community, fishing, hunting, and ancient themes. Based at the Lockhart River Arts and Cultural Centre, Rosella Namok and other members of the Art Gang have attended workshops run by many high-profile artists.

In 1999 Namok drew attention to the Art Gang when she held a near sell-out show at Hogarth Galleries in Sydney. Since then, Namok and other members of the Art Gang (including Fiona Omeenyo, Samantha Hobson and Silas Hobson) have become well known for their accomplished printmaking and bold, large-scale paintings.

Namok’s technique involves painting with her fingers, a method derived from the sand drawing style taught to her by her grandmother. This process is important in understanding the relationship between the painting’s very tactile and sensual surface and the painting’s subject matter. Her paintings make symbolic use of ovals and rectangles, and are often about family relationships and her country’s landscape and weather patterns.

 All artists

 
See also . . .

Learn about Kaapay and Kuyan today.
Learn about the community of Lockhart River.
Rosella Namok references.