In exciting news, the National Indigenous Art Fair is returning to Sydney during NAIDOC Week from Friday, July 3 to Sunday, July 5. Presented by First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation, NIAF is a commission-free event taking over Cutaway at Barangaroo, with 100% of sales returned directly to participating art centres. With more than 100 artists and 30 art centres taking part, we spoke to a few of the artists we're most excited to see. First up is painter Rekeshia Goodwin, from Spinifex Hill Studio, whose vibrant, large-scale works are inspired by her grandfather:

Tell us about the work you are showcasing at this year's National Indigenous Art Fair.

Most of the works I make carry stories. They come from my own experiences and journeys, or from emotional, bonding memories I hold with people close to me. Some of my animal paintings are portraits of people who are close to my heart. Sometimes I give a work a name that reflects that. Other times it will be something more mysterious, like Wandering Souls, or something that comes from my science-y brain, like Bioluminescence. The works going to the Fair this year are a mixture of animal paintings and pieces from an oceanic theme, and each of them carries something of me in them.

What was inspiring you while you created these pieces?

I have always been a bookworm. Before the internet was a thing, I read encyclopedias and newspapers, and one of my biggest inspirations early on was David Attenborough. Growing up in the Pilbara, we were exposed to the elements of nature in our everyday lives, quite literally. That never leaves you. A lot of my recent work starts with a moment. I went walking with my friend Ruby's two kids, and they found a pufferfish, so I painted one with golden coral next to it because that day was full of happy emotions. I wanted to capture it so that when those kids see the painting, they know that the little memories are sometimes what matters most. That is where my science-y brain and my lived emotion meet each other.

What is your process?

Sometimes it starts with the canvas or the material. If I am working on paper, I look at the palettes I want to use. A lot of the time, the seasons up here in the Pilbara are my guide. We are in winter right now, so I am drawn to yellows and turquoise, the colours I am actually seeing around me. I never plan my work. The moment I start planning, I overthink it and it falls apart. So I pick a limited palette. Sometimes I ask Ruby or one of my other colleagues to just point at a colour, and then I pull three shades of that colour, add white and black, and see where it goes. I work with bold, enhanced colours first and then come back over the top with the same colour in a pastel form, so you see the gradient shift. I also like to challenge colour theory and push primary colours against each other in ways that break the usual rules.

Do you listen to music when creating? What has been on your playlist for this work?

Yes, always. My go-to is 90s R&B. If I cannot make up my mind, I hand it over to Spotify DJ and let him change it up.

How do you hope people take from viewing your work? What do you hope it evokes?

More than anything, I hope it is a gentle reminder to people to be gentle with themselves. As artists, we often use our expressive form to heal and work through emotion. Some of my strongest pieces were made when I was struggling the most. So when people interact with my work, I want them to know it is not just a pretty picture. Sometimes it is a tragedy that we are trying to heal from. On your tough days, I just want the work to remind you to be a little gentler with yourself.

What does it mean to you to be a part of the National Indigenous Art Fair?

It means everything, because everything I do, I do for my family. We are so far from everything else out here, and when I get a chance to be part of events like this, I am not just sharing my name. I am sharing my family's name too. That is the whole reason I do what I do.

Which other artists are inspiring you or exciting you right now?

My mum and my great-grandfather.

My mum, because even though she has not had the easiest of lives, she chooses every single day to find joy and to see the little things.

My great-grandfather is turning 93 this year and is still out there, still leading us young ones, still challenging himself, and building on a legacy that goes back generations. He is our last fluent speaker of Thiin Mah Warriyangka, which is two languages, and to watch him perform on stage, to stand in the crowd as his great-granddaughter, and to see my mum and older family up there with him gives me a profound strength and resilience to keep creating. He has a new song coming out on the 26th that we recorded in February, bringing four generations of family together. Neither of them realise they are superstars, but there are a lot of young ones just like me watching and learning from them every day.

What's something, aside from art, that is important for you that you want to use your platform for?

Language. My great-grandfather is our last fluent speaker of Thiin Mah Warriyangka, and I have had the privilege of him giving me permission to paint in language and in Country. I am learning to sing in that language, working through songs to absorb it. My mum is teaching herself to read the language and helping me do the same. One of the most heartbreaking conversations I had with my great-grandfather was when he told me he felt lonely because there was no one he could speak with, in language.

As a younger generation, I went, well, that does not have to be the case. Some of us are willing to stick it out and learn. It is healing. It is generational healing. And alongside the language, I want my work to be part of something that connects generations through collections, through song, through painting, through the written word.

One of my first experiences as an arts worker, I got to see the collections at Spinifex Hill Studio, and I said to Ruby: I want to be able to tell my kids, and their kids, that we are part of those collections too. That our family's name is there. That the work my old people did connects directly to the work I am doing now.

What's next for you?

I want to be part of a show that represents families. Not necessarily a solo show, but something that brings a group of us together to celebrate generational families and the journey from generational trauma to generational wealth and healing. Through art, through song, through language, through all of it together. That is what I am working towards.

Top image: Seasons, Rekeshia Goodwin, 2025

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