Lauraine Diggins Fine Art

Lauraine Diggins Fine Art would like to congratulate sculptor Dianne Coulter for winning the 2009 Inaugural Blake Prize for Human Justice. Dianne won with her piece titled Cousin of Elizabeth NT. The life-size sculpture of a pregnant indigenous woman holding a loaf of bread is made of ceramic, polyuruthane, cloth and steel armature. The plastic-wrapped bread in the girl’s hand inspires optimistic hopes for loaves and fishes, but when viewed in context, in light of the complex raft of contemporary indigenous social issues, it becomes a reminder of a gritty reality for many Northern Territory communities.

Lauraine Diggins Fine Art are sorry to advise that Petyarr Anangker-areny passed away on the evening of the 19th August. The family have given permission for us to convey this sad news. Out of respect for the family, the artist's name will not be referred to during mourning. She is the sister of Kathleen, Gloria, Myrtle, Violet and Jeannie and mother of Carol, Elizabeth, Lucy, Helen and Trevor, and the mother of Elizabeth Kunoth Kngwarray and grandmother of Genevieve Kemarr Loy. One of the renowned Petyarr sisters, her work was widely exhibited and collected. She was part of the original art movement at Utopia, participating in the batik project in the late 1970s and the 1980s. She also created painted and carved wooden sculptures in the 1980s. In respect to the artist, we will not offer her work for sale in the immediate future. She was a vibrant and grounded woman with strong connections to her family and country and we thoroughly enjoyed working with her. She will be sadly missed.

We are pleased to announce that artist Robert Clinch is a finalist in this year's Geelong acquisitive print awards. Formerly known as the Geelong print prize, this award is a biennial acquisitive prize conducted by the Geelong Gallery since 1997. For more information visit the Geelong Gallery website here. Artworks by Robert Clinch are currently available at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art and are viewable in our Australian Stockroom.