ALICIA BILYARA BENNETT
Installation View: Alicia Bilyara Bennett ‘'Barkindji Ngunngkuapa' 2022
Jerico Contemporary presented our first exhibition with Alicia Bilyara Bennett ‘Barkindji Ngunngkuapa’ in February 2022. Bennett is a descendant of the Barkindji people of the Darling River basin in Far West New South Wales, Australia. 'Barkindji Ngunngkuapa' (meaning Barkindji woman) is an emotive ode to the artist’s familial roots. Drawing on deeply personal relationships and shared knowledge passed down to her by significant figures from her maternal and paternal lines, as well as her learnings of the critically endangered Paakantyi/Barkindji language, Bennett reveals a sensitive collection of paintings that foster connection, reconciliation and renewal.
As the daughter of late renowned Indigenous painter and emu egg carver Richard “Crunchie” Bennett (Nuddij) and artist Amanda Farquharson, painting has acted as a creative outlet for Bennett since she was a child. “With my father passing away last year, I guess inspired me to pick up the paintbrush and start again,” explains Bennett, “For grief, for healing, it’s such a mediative way of storytelling and processing those emotions.”
WORKS AVAILABLE:
Australian artist Alicia Bilyara Bennett.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Alicia Bilyara Bennett was born in 1995 on Gadigal Land of the Eora Nation (Paddington), Australia. ‘Barkindji Ngunngkuapa’ marked the artist’s debut exhibition and first with Jerico Contemporary (2022).