Karla Dickens facts for kids
Karla Dickens (born 2 December 1967) is an amazing Aboriginal Australian artist from the Wiradjuri people. She creates special art installations and lives in Lismore, New South Wales. Her artworks are held in many important art collections across Australia.
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Early Life and Learning
Karla Dickens was born on 2 December 1967 in Sydney. She lived in different parts of the city. Her dad worked on the docks and drove trucks. Her mum worked in a factory. Karla was very close to her grandmother, who lived in Mascot. Many Aboriginal people who had been moved from their land lived there. Karla's grandmother married a German immigrant, and her dad was their only child.
Her grandparents were very important to her. Her grandfather taught her to use old, found materials to make new things. Karla is proud of her Wiradjuri heritage.
Karla loved primary school. She was a class captain, house captain, and even school captain. She enjoyed geography because it helped her discover the world. She was also good at maths and loved art. She was always cutting, pasting, and making things at home.
Her teenage years were tough. Later, in her twenties, she decided to study art. She enrolled at the National Art School in Sydney. She finished her degree around 1993 or 1994. After that, she couldn't afford to live in Sydney anymore.
Amazing Art Career
In 1994, when Karla was 27, she left Sydney to focus on her art. She moved to Lismore, which is about 590 kilometers north of Sydney. She had a daughter, and living in regional Australia was much more affordable. She and her daughter created a lovely home with pets, a big vegetable garden, and lots of space for creativity. She was also in Bundjalung country, and the Aboriginal community welcomed her warmly.
In 2003, Karla moved to the Northern Rivers area. A gallery called Blackfellas Dreaming Art Gallery and Museum opened in Bangalow, and Karla became involved. She bought a small house there. In 2007, she moved to Goonellabah, a suburb of Lismore. She found an old house with plenty of room for her art studio. She made a home for herself and her daughter where they could grow their own food.
Important Artworks
In 2013, Karla created a powerful artwork called January 26, Day of Mourning. She found an old Australian flag at her local rubbish tip. She then sewed black crosses onto it. This made the flag a symbol of sadness and remembrance for Aboriginal people. This artwork won the 2013 Parliament of New South Wales Aboriginal Art Award.
In the following years, she created other important series. These included Workhorse (2015), Bound (2016), Sleeping Beauty (2016), and Warrior Woman (2018). These artworks often explored history, including stories from her own family.
Karla has also worked in film. In 2011, she made The Honey and The Bunny. This film was about the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a famous Australian Rugby League team. In 2017, she made a short film called The Queen's Road. This film used many photos from Queen Elizabeth's visit to Australia in 1954. It also focused on a young Aboriginal girl.
Major Exhibitions
In 2017, Karla's art was shown in the 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. This exhibition was called Defying Empire and was held at the National Gallery of Australia. Karla said that her art was her way to speak out and share her own history and the history of her people.
Also in 2017, Karla's work was part of The National: New Australian Art exhibition. This show was supported by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Carriageworks in Sydney. Her artwork Bound featured six straight jackets that she had dyed. She then decorated them with different items she found, like human hair, combs, and monkey teeth. For Karla, each jacket showed why people might stay in difficult situations. In another work called Fight Club, she used six metal lids from trash bins. She wrote her own poems on them.
In March 2020, the Art Gallery of New South Wales asked Karla to create a special artwork. It was for a space in their building that had been empty for a long time. Her artwork, A Dickensian Circus, was shown at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the Biennale of Sydney in December 2020. This artwork celebrates Indigenous circus performers and boxers. These performers used to travel around Australia in groups to entertain people at fairs.
In the 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, called "Monster Theatres", Karla's Dickensian Country Show filled an entire gallery room. It looked like a fun fair but had deeper meanings. The names of the carnival rides, like "Colonial Roundabout", "Live Stock", and "Warn a Brother", hinted at these meanings. "Clown Nation" is a collage that includes the face of politician Pauline Hanson. She is the leader of a political party called One Nation.
How Karla Creates Art
As of 2020, Karla Dickens lives and makes her art in Goonellabah, Lismore, New South Wales.
She is known for creating art that makes people think about Australian culture, both past and present. Karla is a skilled weaver and embroiderer of fabrics. She is also very creative in how she uses all sorts of different materials.
Some of her artworks are playful and mischievous. In an interview in 2020, she said, "The more you know the rules, the more fun it is to break them."
Awards and Recognition
In 2013, Karla won the 2013 Parliament of NSW Aboriginal Art Prize. This award was worth $40,000. She won it for her artwork January 26, Day of Mourning.
In 2018, she won the first-ever Copyright Agency Fellowship for Visual Art. This award was worth $80,000. It helped her create a new multimedia installation called A Dickensian Circus. This work celebrates Indigenous boxers and a famous acrobat from Lismore named Cornelius Sullivan.
A painting of Karla Dickens called Moby Dickens, created by Blak Douglas, won the 2022 Archibald Prize. The Archibald Prize is a very famous art award in Australia for portraits.
Exhibitions
Karla Dickens has had many art shows where her work has been displayed.
Solo Exhibitions
She has had many solo exhibitions, meaning shows dedicated only to her art. Some of these include:
- "Now Nowhere Here" in 2000
- "Unwind: An exhibition of recent paintings by Karla Dickens" in 2001
- "Karla Dickens: Field and Game" in 2012
- "Karla Dickens: Black Dogs, Love and Crutches" in 2015
- "Karla Dickens: Black and Blue" in 2016
- "Karla Dickens: Lucky Bastards and Fast Food" in 2018
- "Karla Dickens: SOS" in 2020
- "Karla Dickens: Loving Memory" in 2008
Group Exhibitions
She has also been part of many group exhibitions with other artists, such as:
- "C.O.P." in 1995
- "'No Limits'" in 1998
- The 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art
Art Collections
Karla Dickens' artworks are part of many important art collections. These include:
