Year 9 Life-size portraits - Tatachilla Lutheran College

Student artists in year 9 have created life-size self-portraits inspired by Vincent Namatjira’s double-sided portrait, Close contact, which won the 2019 Ramsay Art Prize (presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia).

Western Arrernte artist Vincent Namatjira lives and works in Indulkana in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands and also Alice Springs. He is a celebrated portraitist who uses satire, wit and caricature in his portraits to explore Australia’s political identity and the principles leadership, wealth, power and influence that shape our national culture. His paintings of politicians, historical figures, athletes, musicians and members of his community have a distinctive figurative style and regularly spark difficult conversations about Australian history and society.

In response to Close contact by Vincent Namatjira, students have used plywood to create self-standing, three-dimensional paintings of themselves striking an irreverent pose in school uniform.

still: Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls, single-channel digital video with sound, 6 minutes; Courtesy of ACMI, Artbank, Tangentyere Artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists.

Year 9 students have also produced a series of stop motion animations inspired by the animated video work Two girls, produced by lifelong friends Sally M Nangala Mulda and Marlene Rubuntja.

Two girls tells the story of Sally and Marlene’s enduring connection to each other, which began in childhood in Amoonguna in the Northern Territory and has continued into their adult lives in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) as two of Australia’s leading artists. 

Sally is known for her figurative and naïve painting style that involves roughly-applied colours and cursive writing; Marlene on the other hand is acclaimed for her soft sculptures made from recycled bush-dyed woollen blankets and vividly-coloured thread.

The animation Two girls brings figures from Sally’s acrylic paintings and Marlene’s soft sculptures to life.

In response to Two girls, students were invited to ‘think in bright colours’ and create a stop motion animation using collage that told a real or imagined story from their lives.

Coral Winterbourn | Art Teacher

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