Artist Showcase | Rosella Namok

Language group: Aangkum (Ungkum)

Rosella Namok was born in1979 and grew up in the community of Lockhart River, far north Queensland where she learned the traditional cultural ways of her people. 

In the late 1990s she gained national recognition as a prominent member of the renowned Lockhart River ‘Art Gang’. In the early 2000s Rosella moved to Cairns where she continues to live and work. Her paintings depict both traditional stories and contemporary themes, as well as candid observations about changing lifestyles and the environment.

Through a technique developed by watching her grandmother drawing in the sand, she often creates patterned, linear arrangements by pulling her fingers through the layers of paint, to capture the building storm clouds and deluging rain of the tropical big Wet.

Rosella has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas and has been collected by all major state galleries, the National Gallery of Australia and many private collections including The High Court of Australia, Canberra.

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Collection Works

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Group Exhibitions | Highlighted Works

Reimagining: 
between tradition and innovation 
17 Oct 2020 – 10 Jan 2021

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Rosella Namok, AWU woman, 1999, collagraph, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Freshwater turtle, 1997, etching, ed. 6/10, aquatint, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Body paint . . . all those aunties, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005

    

Northern Landscapes: six viewpoints
17 Oct – 6 Dec 2020

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Rosella Namok, Soudees rain, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Stormy night, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Stormy rain . . . wet season, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Storm at Sea, 1998, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005

    

Queen's Land: Blak Portraiture 
17 May – 11 Aug 2019

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Rosella Namok, Myself, 2004, synthetic polymer paint on masonite board, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005

 

ARTNOW FNQ 2017
1 Dec 2017 – 18 Feb 2018

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Rosella Namok, New villages, 2017, acrylic on canvas, Courtesy of the artist and Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

 

 

Collection Works

Rosella Namok, Myself, 2004, synthetic polymer paint on masonite board, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Sandmarks were Quintel, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on masonite board, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Kungkay: after low tide, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on masonite board, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Untitled [One person], 2000, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Family . . . B'long me, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on masonite board, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Family one, 2001, synthetic polymer paint on masonite board, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Untitled [Two People Together], 2001, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Leaving the community, 1998, screen print, ed. 26/29, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Many generations, 1999, screen print, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Going and coming, 1998, screen print, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, My relations many generations, 1998, screen print, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Wiimumu Paampaanyya Mayi, 1997, screenprint, ed. 13/15, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Lockhart River, 1998, screenprint, ed. 1/7, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Talipata, 1997, woodblock print, ed. 3/15, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Clan groups around Lockhart River, 1998, screenprint, ed. 40/45, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Kaapay and Kuyan, 1999, etching, collagraph, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, AWU woman, 1999, collagraph, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Freshwater turtle, 1997, etching, ed. 6/10, aquatint, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Stingrays, 1996, linoprint, ed. 5/6, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, Two way from before time, 1999, screenprint, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2000 Rosella Namok, King tide at Quintel Beach, 1998, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Ngaachi Kincha, 2001, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Body paint . . . all those aunties, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Soudees rain, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Stormy night, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Stormy rain . . . wet season, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Burn tree, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Mangroves . . . smokey sky, 2003, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Old girls . . . they talk in the sand, 2004, acrylic on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Bubba. . . he cries . . .I can't think, 1997, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Gift of the Lockhart River Art Gang, 2005 Rosella Namok, Storm at Sea, 1998, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Sydney, 1999, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Geoff and Fran Barker, 2005 Rosella Namok, Mangroves, 2001, synthetic polymer on canvas, Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Peter & Gail Sawyer, 2011
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The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.

The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.