Luritja artist Rhonda Sharpe was born in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and works out of Yarrenyty Arltere Artists in the Larapinta Valley Town Camp. She is often credited as the pioneer of the artists’ practice of repurposing donated mission blankets to create soft sculptures. Inheriting skills passed down through her aunt Dulcie Sharpe, Rhonda predominantly works in textiles and printmaking. She combines bright colours, intricate stitching and detailed patterns to create autobiographical sculptures that reflect her lived experiences and promote happiness and joy. Her self portraits are inspired by how the artist views herself and speak to the love and healing associated with being on Country, or within the Yarrenyty Arltere art room. They can also be read as a reclamation of both personal and collective notions of Aboriginal identity.
Purchased 2023
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Audio description
Show transcript
My two lovely faces looking at each other and smiling for love by Luritja artist Rhonda Sharpe is a soft sculpture memory portrait made from bush-dyed recycled woollen blankets embellished with wool and cotton. It is 45 cm high, 58 cm wide and 13 cm deep. The sculpture combines two simplified stylised heads in profile gazing at each other, and joined at the shoulders which are facing forward. The left-hand figure has dark brown hair streaming out to the left, with stitching that looks like cornrows. She has large dark eyes with raised eyebrows and full orange lips, closed but upturned in a smile. She wears a checked top with purple vertical stripes, and horizontal stripes of green and red alternating with golden yellow stars.
The right-hand figure has messy dark brown hair, flaring out behind in abstract irregular shapes. Strong black eyebrows and long straight white eyelashes frame simple circular eyes with white centres outlined in black. Her orange lips are closed. She wears a top with a pink, yellow and royal blue floral pattern on the front and a pattern of lime green, red and white flowers on the back.
Audio description written and voiced by Krysia Kitch
