Sarrita King

Sarrita King

Date of Birth: March 1988

Region: Darwin, NT/Adelaide, SA

Language: Gurindji/Wanyi

Sarrita King was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 5 March 1988. She is the younger sister to fellow artist, Tarisse King and daughter to the late highly regarded artist, William King Jungala(1966 – 2007).Sarrita inherits her Australian Aboriginality from her father who was part of the Gurindji tribe from the Northern Territory. The Gurindji tribe came to public attention during the 1960s and 1970s when members employed by the Wave Hill cattle station led a landmark case which became the first successful land rights claim in Australia. Like her forefathers, Sarrita is an assertive individual who is determined to communicate the inseparable connection she and her ancestors have with the Australian land. Sarrita spent most of her youth growing up in Darwin in the Northern Territory. Not far from where her ancestors inhabited, it is here that her connection to her Aboriginality and subsequently the land was able to grow. Her exposure to the imperious weather and extreme landscape has provided the theme for her works of art, since she began painting at age 16. Rolling sand hills, cracking lightning and thunderstorms, torrential rain, fire, desert and tangled bush are all scathing environmental factors that shaped her forefather’s lives and also her own. Depicting these elements in her paintings, Sarrita provides a visual articulation of the earth’s language.  Sarrita has a unique style of very fine dot painting. She flicks the painting stick to "tail" each dot giving a fascinating visual effect of movement. This effect, coupled with her contemporary use of metalised acrylic paint, makes her painting shimmer.  Sarrita has relocated from Adelaide and now currently lives in Darwin and has two young sons.Her sister Tarisse is a regular visitor to Darwin joining Sarrita in painting their collaboration pieces, which are integral to their family heritage. She has been included in over 20 exhibitions, is represented in galleries in every Australian state, and is included in many high profile Australian and international art collections. Her works have been auctioned successfully through Paris’ ArtCurial and she completed a European exhibition tour in 2010.

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