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Kaylene Whiskey

Indulkana Community, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands
Language Group: Yankunytjatjara
Website: iwantjaarts.com.au
Instagram: @iwantja_arts

Kaylene Whiskey’s work celebrates heroic women, pop culture idols, and traditional Anangu culture as the blended reality that is contemporary life in a remote Indigenous community of Central Australia. Her practice links the traditional culture of her community’s elders with the experience of the younger generation who have grown up with contemporary Western influences. Whiskey’s chosen celebrities – including Wonder Woman, Tina Turner, Cher and Dolly Parton – are painted into remote desert community landscapes, interacting with native plants and wildlife and engaging in traditional Anangu activities like hunting, collecting bush tucker and cultivating mingkulpa, a native tobacco plant. Created to a soundtrack of classic rock, pop and country music, Whiskey’s approach is rich in irreverent humour, bringing together two very different cultures and generations, inviting everyone to have some fun.

Original Action

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Hello! Kaylene Whiskey from Indulkana here.

I’m really proud to be showing 3 brand new videos for 52 ACTIONS. I hope you love watching them and they make you laugh and smile with your friends and family!

I always say my paintings are ‘from the comic to the canvas’ and now these videos are like ‘from the canvas to the Saturday morning cartoons’. I had a really good time making these videos, thinking of all the different ways to bring the strong ladies from my paintings to life! I want my videos to send a strong message of fun and family, and to say I’m proud of my Anangu culture.

I want to thank all these famous kungkas for being in my movies: Cathy Freeman, Dolly Parton, Cher, Tina Turner, Princess Diana, Beyonce. To all my sisters here on the APY Lands and all over the world, I love you! Let’s party!

Kaylene x

22.09.2020

‘Kaylene TV (1)’, 2020
Single channel video with sound
01:00

Animation and editing: Jackson Lee 

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body 

23.09.2020

Kaylene TV (2), 2020
Single channel video with sound
01:00

Animation and editing: Jackson Lee @meltedcreative

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body 

24.09.2020

Party Time!, 2020
Single channel video with sound
01:00

Animation and editing: Jackson Lee @meltedcreative

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body 

Touring

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Penrith Regional Gallery, 2022

52 ACTIONS, 2022. Installation view, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney. Photo: Document Photography

Wangaratta Art Gallery, 2023

52 ACTIONS screening program Wangaratta CBD; Kaylene Whiskey, Kaylene TV, 2020, (stills) presented at Harvey Norman, Wangaratta, single-channel video, 2 mins 59 secs. Courtesy the artist and Iwantja Arts, Indulkana. Presented at Harvey Norman, Wangaratta. Photos: Marc Bongers

Go Deeper

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Video interview with Kaylene Whiskey talks about her latest work and the joys of making art.