Fiona Omeenyo (Lockhart River Art Community)

Fiona Omeenyo is a young artist from the Lockhart River region, Cape York in far north Queensland. She came to national prominence as a member of the Lockhart River Art Gang and has held ten successful solo exhibitions since 2001. As well, she has participated in numerous group exhibitions including three in the United States, one in Berlin and a current show being held in Spoleto, Italy and going on to Santa Fe and Houston.

One of the things making the Lockhart River Art Gang stand out is their accomplishments for their young age. At 26, Fiona Omeenyo has become well known for her fearlessness in experimentation and evolution of her art practice. She has demonstrated a confidence in the use of line and space that belies her youth. Although she has worked with etchings, lino and screen prints and some sculpture it is the fluidity of the abstract and figurative imagery that she paints with acrylics that has become her trademark.

Fiona's core themes of family, country, the spirit world and traditional tales passed down through the generations are intrinsic to her work. Early works featured figures built up and scraped back from alternating thick layers of paint. Her most recent bodies of work have pared back these layers to give a flatter print like effect and the figures have become more stylised, round and fluid  forms that seem to move across the paintings. A formidable colourist, Fiona explores a spectrum of colour palettes within the designs that may echo the coastal landscape of Chester River (Pathaco) where her Umpila tribe comes from or other memories from her community.

 Curriculum Vitae