Yankunytjatjara artist Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan has won the Hadley’s Art Prize 2023, for which AUS$100,000 is awarded annually to artists whose works depict Australian landscapes.
Cullinan’s winning work Ngayuku Ngura (My Country) was selected from 30 finalists by a panel consisting of Australian artist Wendy Sharpe AM; Tasmanian artist Milan Milojevic; and artist and historian, Associate Professor Dr Fiona Foley at The University of Queensland.
Born in the Indulkana Community on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia, Cullinan is the director and cultural liaison officer at Iwantja Arts, an Indigenous- owned and governed Aboriginal art centre. Cullian’s works comprise painting, drawing and printmaking. In recent years, she has also dedicated her time to mentoring the next generation of artists and cultural community governance.
‘I paint my Country, the beautiful and powerful Yankunytjatjara Country that I live on and that will always be a part of me,’ Cullinan said in a statement. ‘My painting is connected to the Tjukurpa (Ancestral Stories) that I know, but also my paintings are an extension of who I am, and how I interpret my place in the world.’
An exhibition of the shortlisted works will be open at the Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart from 22 July – 20 August.
