Tourism Broome

Aboriginal artists employ an impressive range of styles. Some, like Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Map series sold for an astonishing $1 Million USD in 2007.

Other artists focus on regional scenes. In Broome, Aboriginal artists depicting Kimberley landscapes and pearl diving are popular subjects of their artworks. Many galleries exist within Broome – one being Salt-Moxie which also sells their pieces directly.

1. Abie Loy Kemarre

Abie Loy Kemarre is one of Australia’s premier contemporary Aboriginal artists. Born on Utopia homelands 270km northeast of Alice Springs in Central Australia in 1972, Abie learned painting from her grandmother Kathleen Petyarre – herself an accomplished Aboriginal artist and well known Kathleen Petyarre teacher.

As with her grandmother and great-aunt Gloria Petyarre, Abie has taken advantage of traditional knowledge passed down to her from elders – offering modern perspectives to traditional stories through vivid colors, intricate detail and depth that create hypnotic paintings which draw in viewers.

Abie has an affinity for depicting bush medicine leaves, specifically the antywerleny leaf (Acacia tenuissima). These medicinal leaves are used as topical treatments for ailments including colds, headaches and wounds. She focuses on depicting Bush Hen Tjurrkurpa stories as well – ceremonial dances which depict an iconic journey by an animal across desert landscapes searching for leaves and seeds for consumption.

Through her paintings, Abie conveys an intimate relationship to her homeland and its abundant natural resources. She takes great care in protecting her ancestral legacy and passing down this knowledge to future generations.

Abie’s paintings exhibit an exceptional level of technical skill and meticulousness, as she meticulously works her layers with care. Reworking her creations until satisfied, Abie stands out with an impressive attention to detail and intricate dot work that continues to receive critical acclaim both nationally and internationally.

2. Renee Hunter

Renee Hunter is a contemporary Aboriginal artist whose paintings reflect her heritage and her relationship to country. She draws her inspiration from waterholes, bush fruits, animals and song lines found throughout nature as well as from family stories related to country history. Renee collaborates with both her mother and daughter for painting sessions together as family; this three generational painting practice results in vibrant works with tremendous energy and spirit.

Early in her art career, she was commissioned to do artwork for various businesses such as Rawlinson and government agencies. Additionally, she designed several T-shirts for sports uniforms while her work is used by Kimberley Aboriginal Women’s Council conference materials.

She is currently working on a project for a large mining company based out of Broome and creating popular medicine bush leaf paintings. These pieces often become focal points in medical specialist’s consultation rooms as they contain vital information on indigenous remedies and traditional healing techniques.

The University of Newcastle Archives and Special Collections hold an extensive archive of records related to Aboriginal people of Hawkesbury-Macarthur region including documents, photographs, audio/video recordings. These collections were catalogued through Awaba Project which can be found online via Newcastle Library Catalogue (link below). While Awaba was initially designed to digitize Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld’s collection it quickly expanded in scope in order to include material across collections related to Aboriginals throughout Hawkesbury-Macarthur area.

3. James Hodges

William Hodges made history when he served as draughtsman on Captain Cook’s second voyage of exploration of the Pacific aboard Resolution from 1772-1775, making him one of the most prominent European artists to visit Australia. A painting he created of Dusky Bay Falls by Te Papa has now become part of their national art collection.

Landscape and bush food are integral elements of Aboriginal life and culture, making the presence of natural elements in works of art not surprising. Aboriginals’ connection with nature forms part of their Dreamtime tradition as well.

Aborigines rely heavily on vegetation to both nourish their bodies and heal ailments, as seen in Abie Loy Kemarre’s paintings. Yam is an important staple food while the Ngalyipi vine has powerful healing properties.

Many Aboriginal artists’ art features ochre pigments derived from earth tones as a signature feature, from smokey greys and smokey mauves, all the way through sage greens and saltbush mauves.

Another enduring element of Aboriginal art is its use of dots. Dot painting can be found throughout Central and Western Desert art while cross-hatching designs are prevalent in Northern Territory and Kimberley art.

Aboriginal art has attracted international collectors’ interest due to its expressive power as an embodiment of traditional culture, yet beautiful aesthetic. Thus, more and more Aboriginal artworks are finding their way into museums and galleries worldwide, particularly with Gabriella Tarisse becoming more well-known through her works.

4. Allysha Cartledge

Allysha Cartledge’s artwork encapsulates the mesmerising colors and vibrant wildlife of Broome through acrylics on canvas, drawing heavily upon nature as her source for inspiration – specifically birds, trees, marine life and water bodies. She is an accomplished painter whose travels throughout Kimberley provide endless sources of artistic genius.

Allysha can be found at Black Stump in Old Broome and her prints often include icons of the area such as pearl luggers drifting into the sunset, boab trees guarding red land or camels ambling down Cable Beach. Meanwhile James’ paintings depict familiar icons from Kimberley and Broome including Oscar himself who featured prominently – almost like Where’s Wally?

Sobrane has built up an outstanding reputation for her large-scale murals and recently added screen printing to her skillset by opening Salt-Moxie on Carnarvon Street with the historic TB Ellies building. At her shop you will find amazing printed t-shirts made in collaboration with diverse local artists; for instance Indigenous artist Wayne Phillips who designed his iconic boab nut design can now be found adorning everything from T-shirts, tea towels and more t-shirts in Salt-Moxie! She is currently working on murals at Mimbi Caves while working on murals for Mimbi Caves has future plans in store – expect even more collaborations in future collaborations!

5. Carol Sutton

Chern’ee Sutton is an immensely proud Kalkadoon woman deeply immersed in their culture and history. She began painting at an early age, entering her first open art competition at 13 beating seasoned artists to win! Today she is internationally acclaimed, having designed the National Rugby League’s Indigenous All Star Jersey in 2021.

Her artwork takes viewers on an immersive visual journey across her country and tells a captivating tale of family, land and culture. Through exceptional color palette, composition and texture skills she paints captivating portraits that share important stories about their people that resonate with all who see them.

Sutton served as “artist in residence” at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1967 through to 1971, creating large scale paintings on traditional themes for Jacob Kainen Collection in 1967. Sutton continued working on her art that explores relationships between people and their environment over the course of her career.

Numerous Aboriginal artists are well-known for a particular style of their artwork, due to the fact that various regions in Australia possess their own visual traditions – dot painting is popular among Central Australian artists while cross-hatching designs and x-ray paintings are typically associated with Northern Territory artists.

Grande Experiences offers an immersive platform to reconstruct knowledge from experience in digital form and engage new audiences. The challenge lies in accurately representing cultural materials without sensationalism and providing fair compensation to artists – these should all be addressed transparently by Grande Experiences.