Rosella Namok

Rosella Namok was born in 1979 in the Lockhart River region of Cape York Peninsula, far north Queensland, in the Aankum language group. She gained recognition for her talent as an artist in her late teens while working at the Lockhart River Art Centre managed by Fran and Geoff Barker, with a group of young artists – ‘The Art Gang’. These artists also included Patrick Butcher, Adrian King, Fiona Omeenyo and Silas Hobson, amongst others. A number of experienced and talented printmakers began to visit the Art Centre in the 1990s and through printmaking workshops, fostered the young artists. The Art Centre quickly became well-known for the colourful, fresh and vibrant prints that emerged.

Rosella Namok was only 24 years old when she won the High Court Centenary Art Prize in 2003. She was already the recipient of a number of prestigious awards such as the Australian Centenary Medal in 2003, the Lin Onus Youth Award in the 5th National Indigenous Heritage Art Awards in 2000, and the Rena Ellen Jones Award, for a screenprint in 1998. Namok is based in Cairns. Her paintings have become very popular and have been exhibited and collected widely within Australia and overseas.