Kaylene Whiskey, is a

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are va ...

artist from

Indulkana Indulkana (also known as Iwantja, from Iwantja Creek) is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Ernabella/Puka ...

, a remote Aboriginal community, in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Whiskey is a contemporary Aboriginal artist who is exhibited in many important Australian galleries and won the 2018

Sir John Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...

at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; she was also a finalist for the 2020 Archibald Prize (as a part of a record year for

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

artists representation in the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

). Whiskey is the granddaughter of

Whiskey Tjukangku Whiskey Tjukangku is an Australian Aboriginal artist from South Australia. He paints for Iwantja Arts, the community co-operative at Indulkana on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. He is an elder of the Yankunytjatjara people, ...

, whom she used to watch paint and, like her grandfather, she paints with

Iwantja Arts Indulkana (also known as Iwantja, from Iwantja Creek) is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Ernabella/ Puk ...

Life and painting

Whiskey was born and raised in the small community of Indulkana in the APY Lands to a family very involved in the arts, and she grew up around the art centre. As she grew older, she said that painting there was "a good way to keep busy and spend time with my family". She has developed a unique style which includes pop stars in bright colours; her favourite musicians

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and Cher (whom she often listens to as she paints) are often featured in her work. Whiskey says: Whiskey refers to these idols as her ''kungkas'', which means "woman", most often "young woman", in the

Yankunytjatjara language Yankunytjatjara (also Yankuntatjara, Jangkundjara, or Kulpantja) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Wati languages, belonging to the large Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the many varieties of the Western Desert Langu ...

. She has said:

Recognition and awards

* In 2018 Whiskey won the

for her

acrylic painting Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. De ...

"Kaylene TV", featuring two of her favourite ''kungkas'', Dolly Parton and Cher. * In 2019 Whiskey won the Telstra General Painting Award at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards for her water-based enamel painting "Seven Sistas", showing her irreverent interpretation of the Seven Sisters Dreaming (

Kungkarangkalpa Australian Aboriginal astronomy is a name given to Aboriginal Australian culture relating to astronomical subjects – such as the Sun and Moon, the stars, planets, and the Milky Way, and their motions on the sky. Traditional Aboriginal c ...

Tjukurpa), where she casts her own heroic women into the roles. These women include

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. * Whiskey was a finalist of the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

for her self-portrait (in which she is accompanied by Dolly Parton); this work is entitled: "''Dolly visits Indulkana''".

Exhibitions

*2018: ''A Lightness of Spirit is the Measure of Happiness'', at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

; featuring 10 specially commissioned works by Aboriginal artists of south-east Australia, including Whiskey, Robert Fielding,

Vincent Namatjira Vincent Namatjira (born 14 June 1983) is an Aboriginal Australian artist living in Indulkana, in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY lands) in South Australia. He has won many art awards, and after being nominated for the Archiba ...

, Yhonnie Scarce,

Tiger Yaltangki The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

and others. * 2019: ''The National 2019: New Australian Art'' at the Museum of Contemporary Art. *2022: ''Iwantja Rock n Roll'' at the

Fort Gansevoort Fort Gansevoort is a former United States Army fort in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was also known as the White Fort due to its whitewashed exterior. History The fort was named for Peter Gansevoort, a Revolutionary War offi ...

gallery in New York, along with the work of

and Tiger Yaltangki. Included in the exhibition is her work ''Kungkas in Hollywood'' (2021), in which the artist is portrayed in a fantastical scene with Beyoncé and Dolly Parton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiskey, Kaylene Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Artists from the Northern Territory Australian Aboriginal artists 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian artists Archibald Prize finalists

Life and painting

Recognition and awards

Exhibitions

See also

References