Kevin Williams is a painter and printmaker based in Gunbower. A Waradjuri man from Narrandera in NSW, Kevin grew up surrounded by art: his father and grandfather made indigeneous artefacts, and his mother was a painter.
Kevin started painting in the early 1980s, as a form of relaxation. In 1987, while he was living in Echuca, he won the Stephen Kellner Aboriginal Art Award. This opened up many opportunities for him, and he made several key contacts in government and the corporate world.
A few years later, the then-owner of Echuca’s Star Hotel offered Kevin a room in the hotel to operate an art gallery. That exposure led to Kevin selling work to visitors from all over the world. Then in the 1990s, Kevin moved to a gallery on the Murray Esplanade, where he began selling enough work to quit his job and focus his attention on his art practice.
In 1999, he was commissioned to produce a body of work for New Directions, an international travelling exhibition sponsored by Rio Tinto and the Federal Government. The exhibition travelled to Paris, Geneva, Brussels, London, Tokyo, Manilla, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Since then, Kevin has exhibited widely – in Australia and internationally. He has work hanging in Queens Hall at Parliament House in Victoria as well as in collections around the world.
Of his art, Kevin says:
“The markings and symbols in my artwork relate specifically to the Waradjuri and where I was born and raised … home to the largest Bora Ground (traditional meeting place) recorded, consisting of two large circles connected by a 500m pathway. Along this pathway there were ground carvings and ornately carved trees with symbols, markings and the animals that are totems of the Waradjuri. It is these carvings that are now a strong feature of my work.”
Kevin also uses markings Waradjuri warriors used to paint on their legs. These markings were recorded in lithographs produced by an artist who travelled with Thomas Mitchell as he surveyed NSW in 1880s. You can see these in the following images.
We are extremely fortunate to have Kevin open his studio gallery as part of our studio trail in February next year.
Campaspe Artists Studio Trail 