Rosella Namok Kanthanampu and Aangkum , b. 1979

Rosella Namok first appeared on the contemporary art scene in the late 1990s as one of the more prominent members of the newly established Far North Queensland’s renowned Lockhart River ‘Art Gang’. A small and remote community, Lockhart River is located eight hundred kilometres north of Cairns on the Eastern Cape York Peninsula. Growing up, she experienced traditional life - such as camping, fishing, gathering berries - within and around the Lockhart River, Claudie River, Quintell Beach, Chilli Beach, Great Barrier Reef, and the Iron Range (Kutini-Payamu) National Park.

More recently, Namok has been living and working in Cairns as well as completing private and corporate commissions in Brisbane studios. Her paintings continue to reflect both traditional stories and contemporary themes associated with cultural, social and environmental concerns. Through a technique developed by watching her grandmother drawing in the sand, Namok creates her signature finger-patterned linear arrangements by pulling her fingers through the paint.

Namok’s works are currently held in private and public collections both nationally and internationally including National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Cairns Regional Gallery, University of Queensland Art Museum, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, International Education Services (IES),The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA and Columbus State University, Georgia, USA.