Thea Anamara Perkins

Born 1992, Gadigal Country, Sydney, New South Wales
Lives and works Gadigal Country, Sydney, New South Wales
Arrernte, Central Desert region; Kalkadoon, Gulf region

Lhere 2020–23

installation of 25 paintings

Bondi Beach 2023
acrylic on clayboard
Art Gallery of New South Wales, La Prairie Art Award 2023

Warren Ball Avenue 2023
acrylic on clayboard
Art Gallery of New South Wales, La Prairie Art Award 2023

The Graduation 2023
acrylic on clayboard
Art Gallery of New South Wales, La Prairie Art Award 2023

The Bungalow 2023
acrylic on clayboard
Art Gallery of New South Wales, La Prairie Art Award 2023

Shimmer 2023
acrylic on clayboard
Courtesy the artist

Glimmer 2023
acrylic on clayboard
Courtesy the artist

Hetty 2022
acrylic on clayboard
Courtesy the artist

Martin Connelly 2022
acrylic on board
Courtesy the artist

John Street 2022
acrylic on clayboard
Courtesy the artist

Home 2022
acrylic on clayboard
Courtesy the artist

Beach Road 2021–22
acrylic on gessobord
Private collection, Melbourne

Azlan 2021
acrylic on gessobord
Courtesy the artist

Bloomfield Street 2021
acrylic on gessobord
Collection of Bella and Tim Church, Sydney

Hetti 2021
acrylic on gessobord
Private collection, Sydney

Rachel 2021
acrylic on gessobord
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, purchased 2022

Shimmer 1 2021
acrylic and gold leaf on gessobord
Collection of Nicholas Smith, Sydney

Shimmer 2 2021
acrylic on gessobord
Collection of Bernard Ryan and Michael Rowe, Singapore

Three sisters 2021
acrylic on clayboard
Courtesy the artist

Two sisters 2021
acrylic on gessobord
Collection of Wesley Enoch, Minjerribah

Glimmer 1 2020
acrylic on clayboard
Collection of Wesley Enoch, Minjerribah

Glimmer 2 2020
acrylic on clayboard
Private collection, Brisbane

Glimmer 3 2020
acrylic on clayboard
Private collection, Sydney

Glimmer 4 2020
acrylic on clayboard
Collection of Wesley Enoch, Minjerribah

Poppy Chicka 2020
acrylic on clayboard
Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased with funds provided by the Aboriginal Collection Benefactors 2020

Tent Embassy 2020
acrylic on clayboard
Araluen Art Collection, Alice Springs 

Introduction

The strong bonds of family and the power of representation underlie the work of Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman Thea Anamara Perkins. For The National 4, Perkins unites a group of 25 paintings made between 2021 and 2023. Anchored by the landscape painting Home 2022 – a depiction of a site at the Telegraph Station in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, known to local Aboriginal people as The Bungalow – this group of works is a coming together of past and present, public and private, personal and political.

Their collective title Lhere, an Arrernte word for creek or river, refers to the continued flow of knowledge and history over time and through generations. As Perkins says:

My work delves into my family archives of photographs and, through the painting process, communicates the essence of these images. Fleeting, yet suspended in time, storied, and coloured by my own emotions and memories. They seek to express the love and strength in First Nations families and situate these instances of joy and belonging, or ‘glimmers’ into our collective imagination.  

Inquiry questions

  1. What do you see when you look at this collection of paintings?
  2. Perkins’ aunt, Rachel Perkins, once said: ‘A painter has just one frame to tell their story. Everything they wish to convey must be contained in that one image’. Discuss this in relation to Thea Perkins’ art-making. Has she told a collection of stories or one story?
  3. Why did the artist choose this subject matter? Consider the intimacy of the subject matter Perkins uses. What is she encouraging us to reflect on as a society by sharing these personal photographs.
  4. How does scale affect the way an audience responds to this collection of paintings? Does it inform the meaning? Explain your answer. 

Creative learning activity

Materials

  • Family photograph connected to childhood
  • Art paper or canvas
  • Acrylic paints 

Process

  1. Bring one childhood photograph from home. It should be something that evokes a memory from your life.
  2. Look at your photograph and sketch a real or imagined story that occurred right before and right after this photograph was taken.
  3. Your drawings should reflect the scale of the photograph.
  4. Consider details and include textures, lines, colour, shapes and patterns.
  5. Create a triptych of your artwork. Display the drawings next to the original photograph.
  6. Write a label for your artwork, describing the moments you have captured.  

Extension

  • Draw a map of your life; include key moments to capture the memories and places you remember.
  • Develop a play or short film about a past or present time in your life.  

Reflection

  • Why did you choose this photograph? Who or what is in the photograph and why is it important to you?
  • Perkins is immortalising memories of her family and childhood. Discuss how photography captures moments in time. Can a photograph accurately capture emotion?
  • What is the effect of collections of small-scale works? Would the impact be different if the scale each work was larger?