KIEREN KARRITPUL

Early Life and Influences

Karritpul was born in 1994 to a long line of artists. Art, hunting and fishing were part of his childhood in Daly River, Darwin, Australia. He often watched his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother weave and paint—an experience which influenced his own practice. As he has remarked, ‘I want you to see that in my art, there’s a story behind it being passed down from my Elders’.

Weaving Through Art

As he is not allowed to weave as a Ngen’giwumirri man, Karritpul often interprets the woven form through painting and other mediums. Some such works pay homage to the meticulous process of fishnet weaving, which Karritpul considered to be not only a necessity of livelihood, but also, a way of teaching one to be humble and patient.

In 2014, Karritpul held his first solo exhibition at the Nomad Gallery in Euroa, Australia. Works in the show called upon specific woven forms, including bundles of yerggi, which he watched his maternal figures make as a child. By incorporating a woven form that is iconic to his region, Karriptul’s work served as a celebration of Aboriginal culture.

In 2021, Karritpul’s large-scale painting Weaving Myself: the Landscape and the Land was displayed at the Art Gallery of South Australia as part of the Ramsay Art Prize 2021 exhibition. To create the work, Karritpul used two brushes—one made with his own hair. Made up of countless dark lines arranged in loose, concentric circles, the painting uses the weaving process as a visual metaphor for how he is woven into and from the land.

Exhibition and Awards

Kieren Karritpul’s exhibitions include Works on Paper 2020, Bush Traders, Australia (2020); Painting my Country - Painting my Landscape, Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre, Australia (2020); The Alchemists: Weaving Knowledge, The Goods Shed, Claremont, Australia (2019–20); Woven Lines, Nomad Art, Australia (2015); and Karritypul, Nomad Art (2014).

Kieren Karritpul’s awards include the NIFA Textile Design Award (2020); Finalist of the Northern Territory Young Achiever Awards and the Charles Darwin University Arts Award (2015); and the 31st Telstra NATISAA Award, Darwin; Youth Award (2014).

Karriptul is Director to the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arhnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA), the youngest ever to be assigned the role.

Carren Wong | Ocula | 2021