SOLO EXHIBITION
black AND white KONSTANTINA (Kate Constantine)
11 May - 3 June 2023
COOEE ART REDFERN
17 Thurlow Street
Redfern NSW 2016
cover (front & back) image
Dyin Bangada: Gawulgung Dara (detail) | 2023
Translation: Women’s adornment and ornamentation of Kangaroo Teeth
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 75 x 90 cm | #20306
“In this year of reflection, reform and referendum it’s hard to sit in the grey area. There is just black AND white.”
- Kate Constantine
black AND white Konstantina
“In this year of reflection and reform, it’s hard to sit in the grey area.
There is just black AND white.
In this collection of works I tell truth, reclaim story and share culture that has long been taken away from my Gadigal people.
We’ve been colonised not once, but twice.
Using only black AND white acrylic paint, with the timeless practice of ochre milling and incorporating my own natural pigment paints, I explore this very racially charged theme of being both black AND white in the year of The Voice.”
“Black AND white is a celebration. A moment in time to pause, acknowledge and honour the Gadi; our customs, our adornment, the cicatrices and ochre markings present on our bodies and our grace. These paintings recognise our existence, a physical reference to our being and strength. By looking to the past, we determine our future.
They are joy!
Healing intergenerational trauma through reclamation and restoration of kinship connections are critical. Our people are hardwired for connection; isolation and rejection from community causes a grief that cannot be healed.”
Raining Series: Garangal | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 152 x 100 cm | #20259
“In Gadigal stories we believe that the creator spirit Biame was feminine. She slept laying on her side in the Cumberland plains and awoke to push herself back to create the mountains and pushed out her legs to create our great waterways. When she was done she perched at Garangal as Pelican (of the same name) and took flight to Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre) to create our songline to our brothers and sisters of the Arabana all the way down in South Australia and connects us to mobs in the interior by the breeding cycles of the Pelican.’
- Kate Constatine
Raining Series: Waranjam (This is Sydney) | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 139 x 198 cm | #20258
Didactic: “Waranjam is part of the ‘Raining Series’ as viewed from my place in bed, whilst pondering Wiyanga (motherhood), Dyin (womanhood) and what it’s like to be me. Many Wiyanga feel a stronger connection to Country and Culture after the birth of a child, and for me this piece explore themes of renewal and strength in my Culture, in my Blakness and the extraordinary connection I have to my ancestral homelands. As Gadi, I am the Country and it is me; we share spirit, life and love and this my homage and respect to her.”
Raining Series: Daralaba (South Head) | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 100 x 150 cm | #20310
Raining Series: Ngia Ni Waran | 2023
Translation: How I see Sydney
Sustainably foraged and hand milled ochre and natural earth pigment from Waran and Acrylic paint on Belgium Linen
200 x 140 cm | #20311
Raining Series: Dubuwaagulya | 2023
Translation: Eastern point of Sydney Cove later Bennelong Point
Sustainably foraged and hand milled ochre and natural earth pigment from Waran and Acrylic paint on Belgium Linen
120 x 90 cm | #20312
Raining Series: Yurun | 2023
Translation: Site of Lady Macquarie Chair today
Sustainably foraged and hand milled ochre and natural earth pigment from Waran and Acrylic paint on Belgium Linen 120 x 90 cm | #20313
Dyin Bangada: Gawulgung Dara | 2023
Translation: Women’s adornment and ornamentation of Kangaroo Teeth
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 75 x 90 cm | #20306
Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul | 2023
Translation: Women’s adornment and ornamentation made of Feather
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 75 x 90 cm | #20307
Mula Magalyinyara #1 | 2023
Translation: Men’s body and face decoration, using ochre and clay
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 121 x 91 cm | #20263
Mula Magalyinyara #2 | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 121 x 91 cm | #20261
Didactic:The Port Jackson Painter (1788 - 1792) created a series of small Gouache paintings depicting our Gadi men in their “paint up” states.These patterns are intricate and detailed. Using predominantly white ochre for Corroberee and yalabi dayalung (Bora Ceremony) and red ochre for war. These traditional patterns aim to revive these stories on contemporary surfaces.
Dalgal (Pippis) (#1) | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen
60 x 60 cm | #20262
Dalgal (Pippis) (#2) | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen
60 x 60 cm | #20263
Dalgal (Pippis) (#3) | 2023
Natural earth pigments sustainably foraged from Gadigal Country with Acrylic on Belgium
Linen | 60 x 60 cm #20264
Dalgal (Pippis) (#4) | 2023
Natural earth pigments sustainably foraged from Gadigal Country with Acrylic on Belgium
Linen | 60 x 60 cm #20265
Gadigal Weave | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 100 x 100 cm | #20304
Naragaying | 2023
Translation: Degree of kin relationship
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 60 x 60 cm | #20308
Bugi Yarra (Bathe in Eucalyptus) | 2023
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 91 x 91 cm | #20305
Waraburra | 2023
Translation: False Sarsaparilla or Botany Bay Tea
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen | 91 x 91 cm | #20309
Curriculum Vitae
Kate Constatine
Gadigal
Awards & Recognition
2022
National Emerging Art Prize - Finalist
Ocean Shores Art Expo - Finalist
Arts In The Valley - Finalist
Art Lovers Australia Prize - Finalist
2021 2020
Fishers Ghost Art Prize - Finalist
Ocean Shores Art Expo - Finalist (highly commended)
BAM, Byron Art Prize - Finalist
The Voice Australia, Artwork & visuals for Grand Finale
Keynote speaker, inaugural TEDx Byron Bay. Theme ‘the space between’ Member of Indigenous Art Steering Committee for Waverley Council
Art Lovers Australia Prize - Finalist
BAM, Byron Art Prize - Semi finalist
Border Art Prize, Tweed Regional Gallery - Finalist (highly commended)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
2022
2021
2020 2019
‘black AND white’ - Cooee Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
‘Ngawiya Ngubadi’ - Sidney Nolan Trust, The Rodd, Herefordshire. UK
‘Raining On Eora’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
‘Negative Space’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. NSW
‘The Caste Collection’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. NSW
‘Blak Enough’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. NSW
‘Colour Correction’ - Tweed Regional Gallery Annex, Murwillumbah. NSW
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
‘Finalist Exhibition, Visual Arts In The Valley’, Kangaroo Valley, NSW
‘Connection’ - National Museum of Australia, Canberra. ACT
‘Tjukurpa’ - Aboriginal Art Galleries UK, London
2021
2020
‘Finalist Exhibition, Byron Art Prize’ - Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina. NSW
‘Here I Am: Art by Great Women’ - Ambush Gallery, Darling Quarter, Sydney, NSW
‘A Vision of Country: Australian Aboriginal Landscapes’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
‘Colours of Spring’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
‘East Coast Matters’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Public Works
Westfield Warringah. Large scale external mural. Westfield Parramatta Lvl 5. Large scale internal mural.
Australian Passport Office Reception Mural and meeting room artworks
Baker McKenzie, Sydney. Acknowledgment of Country plaque and artwork
Liberty Finance Office, Melbourne murals and decals
While You Were Sleeping, ANU Canberra in conjunction with National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Central Station Hoarding Project, Sydney
Chris O’Brien Lighthouse, YouCan Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. Mural and Artwork
National Office Anglican Church, Sydney. Boardroom Artwork
Byron Shire Council Laneway project, Byron Bay. Mural
Lane Cove Council rejuvenation project, Lane Cove. Mural
