Indigenous Contemporary Artist Sarrita King's Modern Take on Life
Artist Sarrita King's story is as fascinating as her contemporary approach to traditional Aboriginal art
Sarrita at East Point in Darwin, NT
This story begins when Sarrita was 18 and her father, William King Jungala, called her and her sister Tarisse, then aged 20, to Adelaide in South Australia. The Gurindji man – from Wave Hill, Kalkarindji, in the Northern Territory – wanted to pass on his cultural knowledge to his daughters, who had largely been raised by their English mother in Darwin. “We moved there to be with him and the plan was that I was going to study journalism and my sister was going to be a chef,” says Sarrita.
William was a highly regarded Indigenous artist who lived and worked in his studio next door to where his daughters stayed. “He worked tirelessly into the night, always with techno music blasting,” says Sarrita. “When he worked, he worked hard for weeks and months. Then he would stop and not paint at all.”
This story begins when Sarrita was 18 and her father, William King Jungala, called her and her sister Tarisse, then aged 20, to Adelaide in South Australia. The Gurindji man – from Wave Hill, Kalkarindji, in the Northern Territory – wanted to pass on his cultural knowledge to his daughters, who had largely been raised by their English mother in Darwin. “We moved there to be with him and the plan was that I was going to study journalism and my sister was going to be a chef,” says Sarrita.
William was a highly regarded Indigenous artist who lived and worked in his studio next door to where his daughters stayed. “He worked tirelessly into the night, always with techno music blasting,” says Sarrita. “When he worked, he worked hard for weeks and months. Then he would stop and not paint at all.”
Sarrita in her Darwin studio. Her artwork, displayed on a Samsung The Frame TV, is from her Lightning series.
For two-and-a-half years prior to his passing, William immersed Sarrita and Tarisse in his world. “He had such a big personality,” says Sarrita. “He created this big community and we got pulled in.” He taught his daughters about his values, the symbols and meaning in Aboriginal art and how to tell stories on canvas. “It subtly took over our lives,” says Sarrita who, like her sister, eventually pulled out of her tertiary studies to pursue art under the tutelage of their father.
From their father, Sarrita and Tarisse learned techniques such as the use of dots, which are used to disguise the sacred meanings behind the stories, so people not initiated into that knowledge can not access it. Then there is line work. “Lines are the original form of Aboriginal art, as they were commonly used in body paint and cave art,” says Sarrita. “When I view an artwork, if it is made up of line work and then obscured by dot work, I would call the line work the ‘story’ of the piece.
“A lot of Aboriginal art is storytelling that depicts the landscape in aerial visions,” says Sarrita. “That is a survival technique, too. Because we were nomadic and we travelled to and from ceremonial places and different hunting grounds, that aerial vision of the land is how we map the world.”
For two-and-a-half years prior to his passing, William immersed Sarrita and Tarisse in his world. “He had such a big personality,” says Sarrita. “He created this big community and we got pulled in.” He taught his daughters about his values, the symbols and meaning in Aboriginal art and how to tell stories on canvas. “It subtly took over our lives,” says Sarrita who, like her sister, eventually pulled out of her tertiary studies to pursue art under the tutelage of their father.
From their father, Sarrita and Tarisse learned techniques such as the use of dots, which are used to disguise the sacred meanings behind the stories, so people not initiated into that knowledge can not access it. Then there is line work. “Lines are the original form of Aboriginal art, as they were commonly used in body paint and cave art,” says Sarrita. “When I view an artwork, if it is made up of line work and then obscured by dot work, I would call the line work the ‘story’ of the piece.
“A lot of Aboriginal art is storytelling that depicts the landscape in aerial visions,” says Sarrita. “That is a survival technique, too. Because we were nomadic and we travelled to and from ceremonial places and different hunting grounds, that aerial vision of the land is how we map the world.”
The artwork Sarrita is working on is from her Country series. Among the landmarks depicted are camp sites, hunting grounds and waterholes.
But most of all, their father instilled in his daughters the knowledge that art is a way to share culture and continue a sense of connection. Or, as Sarrita says, “to bring people to culture”.
But most of all, their father instilled in his daughters the knowledge that art is a way to share culture and continue a sense of connection. Or, as Sarrita says, “to bring people to culture”.
Today, Sarrita continues her father’s legacy, painting in a tiny studio next to a car-sales yard in Darwin. With its corrugated-iron wall, a large table – big enough to spread canvases on – and tiled floor, it’s an appropriately robust environment for her art making.
As Sarrita creates, she talks about the great value of Indigenous art in bringing people together. “Indigenous art, at its core, can connect people to that primal side of themselves. That is nice in our fast-paced world,” she says. “The sustenance, warmth and safety that we need now is what our ancestors, who lived in caves, needed too. They had the same drive and feeling as we have. It’s still in all of us. Our needs are the thread that joins us.”
As Sarrita creates, she talks about the great value of Indigenous art in bringing people together. “Indigenous art, at its core, can connect people to that primal side of themselves. That is nice in our fast-paced world,” she says. “The sustenance, warmth and safety that we need now is what our ancestors, who lived in caves, needed too. They had the same drive and feeling as we have. It’s still in all of us. Our needs are the thread that joins us.”
Since moving back to Darwin with its wild thunderstorms and colourful landscape, Sarrita has been prolific, producing artwork in three series: Country, which is rendered in black, white and red; Elements, in blue; and Lightning in red.
“The wet season is my favourite as it not only means the coming of big lightning shows, but also the true beauty of the lush green environment,” says Sarrita. “The poinciana trees herald the wet season, with their bright red flowers cutting against the green landscape, showing how alive the environment truly is.”
“The wet season is my favourite as it not only means the coming of big lightning shows, but also the true beauty of the lush green environment,” says Sarrita. “The poinciana trees herald the wet season, with their bright red flowers cutting against the green landscape, showing how alive the environment truly is.”
The colours of the landscape, lightning and sky are reflected in the paints in Sarrita’s studio.
Sarrita goes into her studio most days and says she loves the self-determination that her burgeoning careers allows. “I am lucky to have galleries that have wish lists, so as I work through what they may want, I also do some some smaller works, which are around 30x30 centimetres, and private commissions, some as large as 2x6 metres. No week is ever the same,” she says.
Sarrita goes into her studio most days and says she loves the self-determination that her burgeoning careers allows. “I am lucky to have galleries that have wish lists, so as I work through what they may want, I also do some some smaller works, which are around 30x30 centimetres, and private commissions, some as large as 2x6 metres. No week is ever the same,” she says.
Sarrita is represented in galleries in every state in Australia but recently she took the opportunity for her art to be seen internationally via Samsung’s The Frame TV. Two of her Lightning series artworks, (shown above and in previous images) were recently added to the television’s choice of international artworks that homeowners can select to display when their television is dormant, thus bringing art into their homes.
Sarrita and street artist Mulga are the only two Australian artists represented. Unsurprisingly, she sees this as an example of continuity, as well as a way to bring people to culture. “Art is the original entertainment, the original TV,” she says. “Forty thousand years ago, cave paintings told people what they needed to know and the knowledge they needed to pass on. It’s how we communicated. The news on TV now does the same thing,” she says. “There is continuity everywhere.”
Sarrita and street artist Mulga are the only two Australian artists represented. Unsurprisingly, she sees this as an example of continuity, as well as a way to bring people to culture. “Art is the original entertainment, the original TV,” she says. “Forty thousand years ago, cave paintings told people what they needed to know and the knowledge they needed to pass on. It’s how we communicated. The news on TV now does the same thing,” she says. “There is continuity everywhere.”
This work-in-progress is called ‘Water’, and is from Sarrita’s Elements series. “It was one of my dad’s art series, which I adapted into my work. This series is about capturing the movement of the elements and appreciating how they speak to us, while acknowledging their role in our ancestors’ survival.”
It’s also a rare opportunity for a young artist to showcase contemporary Indigenous art to the world. “Contemporary art is about the colours that are used, the stories branching outside of the sacred, and what people perceive as traditional work,” says Sarrita. “Today, it embraces so many other people’s art appetites. There is something for everyone in Aboriginal art. It looks good, then the extra layers of the story and the storytelling give it heart.”
It’s also a rare opportunity for a young artist to showcase contemporary Indigenous art to the world. “Contemporary art is about the colours that are used, the stories branching outside of the sacred, and what people perceive as traditional work,” says Sarrita. “Today, it embraces so many other people’s art appetites. There is something for everyone in Aboriginal art. It looks good, then the extra layers of the story and the storytelling give it heart.”
Sarrita on the porch of her home. Beyond the carport, at left, is the small storage room that will soon become Sarrita’s studio.
Sarrita and Chad have plans to renovate their home, an all-concrete cyclone shelter built in the wake of tropical Cyclone Tracy, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1974. They intend to create a studio from an under-utilised storage room, with doors to the garden and a pool so she can fully combine her home and professional life, while still seeing the lighting and thunder rolling in.
Sarrita and Chad have plans to renovate their home, an all-concrete cyclone shelter built in the wake of tropical Cyclone Tracy, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1974. They intend to create a studio from an under-utilised storage room, with doors to the garden and a pool so she can fully combine her home and professional life, while still seeing the lighting and thunder rolling in.
Postscript: The day Houzz flew out of Darwin, Sarrita gave birth to their second child, a beautiful boy named Grange.
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By any reckoning, Sarrita King is breaking new ground. As an artist, she produces work that is both recognisably Indigenous yet takes the genre to a whole new level. As an advocate for Indigenous art, she is emerging as a powerful, fresh voice across the country, with a mission to demystify Aboriginal culture and connect us all to a common history. She is forthright, honest, a vegan, and, when Houzz visited Darwin in the Northern Territory to interview her, heavily pregnant with her second child.