Rohin Kickett
Yenyenning Lakes #1 and #3
about the artwork
Rohin Kickett’s paintings depict two neighbouring sites of Kickett’s Country, in the Yenyenning Lakes ecosystem in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia. To gain a deeper understanding of the complex nature of the salt lakes, Kickett viewed the landscape from the air using a drone and walked through it. He then subsequently explored the many stories of the region from his community’s Elders.
Kickett describes the process of making the work as highlighting the aerial beauty of the Wheatbelt whilst also expressing his dismay at the degradation of the environment and the current state of what once were important life sources.
In documenting the landscape, Kickett realised that certain patterns left behind from harvesting bore a similar aesthetic to the original mark-making methods and designs used by the Noongar People to mark ceremonial shields and the body, reaffirming how Noongar culture has always been embedded in the land.
artist statement
“Yenyenning Lakes is an area near Brookton and Beverly, near where my Pop was born. As my aunt told me, my father would say that he was born near where the river starts. The Yenyenning Lakes system is the source of the Gogulgar (Avon River), which flows into the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River). After reading my aunt’s thesis, which talks about my Pop and where he was born, I became curious about the area, and this is what made me realise just how beautiful the salt lakes are on Noongar Country.
Documenting Country from an aerial view comes from the stories told by my father and uncles, who talked about how my great-grandfather would tell stories using a stick and do drawings, in a topographical aerial format, to explain and tell the original stories of the area.”
about the artist
Rohin Kickett
Balardong Noongar Peoples | Born Northam, Western Australia
Lives and works Boorloo | Perth
Rohin Kickett’s artworks are inspired by his family stories of strength and survival, along with his own personal experiences growing up in Perth. Born within 50 kilometres of where his family first made contact with settlers, his connection to the Balardong region runs deep within his family.
As an advocate and activist on behalf of young Noongar artists, Kickett’s works have been exhibited in a range of Western Australian galleries and exhibitions including the Yonga Boodjah Aboriginal Art Gallery and the Maalinup Aboriginal Gallery, Western Australia.
