DOB: 1972

BORN: Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia
LANGUAGE GROUP: Gurindji/Gurindji Kriol
COUNTRY: Gurindji

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Kamahi Djordon King began sketching and painting at a very young age. His grandfather, a member of the Gurindji tribe, was born at Banka Banka in the Northern Territory, and was a teacher and a mentor to Kamahi’s older brother, William, who also grew up in Katherine. His grandfather – who had travelled epic distances mustering cattle across the country and had a kinship with the land he knew so well – told William stories about their beloved desert country, and his vast knowledge and experience was invaluable. As the older brother, it was William’s responsibility to pass on the knowledge and style of painting taught to him by their grandfather.

 

Kamahi’s work is not only greatly influenced by his grandfather and brother’s teachings, but he successfully incorporates his unique interpretations, discovered through his own experiences and travels throughout Australia, the Central and Western Desert, the Top End, and the world. It is this combination of shared knowledge, sacred ancestral Dreaming, and a compelling contemporary aesthetic we witness and experience in all of Kamahi’s work.

 

In 2011, Kamahi was a double finalist in the prestigious Victorian Indigenous Art Awards, winning one of his two categories – the award for Works on Paper – for his Attack of the 50 Foot Black Gin, a modern interpretation of the size, scale, and impact of famous 1950s movie poster art, featuring a spectacular life-sized creation of his celebrated alter-ego, Constantina Bush. 

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