Butterfly Sisters

Acrylic on Canvas

121 x 147 cm

Joseph Williams is an artist, master carver and an emerging Warumungu cultural leader who works at Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre as a tour guide, arts worker and Cultural Liaison Officer. He began his artistic practice as a teenager with his grandfather during the mid-1990s. His grandfather taught him to make sculptures and carvings ‘the hard way’, says Williams, with an axe and wood rasp whereas now Williams combines a more modern range of tools. Williams is a natural spokesperson for his community, is a member of the board of Desart, speaks several languages and is a singer for ceremonial dance. His work includes paintings and a contemporary perpetuation of traditional objects including kayin (boomerangs), wartikirri (number 7 boomerang), clapping sticks and purnu (coolamons) fashioned from hardwood.

Williams participated in the 2020 biennale of Sydney with the The Tennant Creek Brio collective as well as shows in Darwin and Alice Springs. He believes in the value of the collective’s artists as role models for the younger generation. As a solo artist, Williams draws inspiration from his Warumungu and Croatian heritages. He has shown works through Croatia House in Sydney and was shown in the 2021 Vincent Lingiari Art Award with an installation at Tangentyere Art Gallery in Alice Springs.

The Tennant Creek Men’s art program started in 2016 as an art therapy/ outreach program set up by Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corp. The group, a mix of fringe dwellers and emerging cultural leaders, have continued to work together and often collaboratively, forming a unique and cutting-edge artist collective named ‘The Tennant Creek Brio‘. Their work pushes conventions, drawing on imagery and traditions from the Wirnkarra (Dreaming), the Old Testament and mythic iconography from around the world. Their action paintings and performance represent the enthusiasm and dedication of the collective as they continue to develop a cathartic visual language fuelled by the material histories and complexities of life in Tennant Creek.