Irene Namok

OB: April 1960
BORN: Thursday Island, QLD
LANGUAGE GROUP: Kanthanampu
COMMUNITY: Lockhart River, QLD

Irene Namok comes from Lockhart River in QLD, with family connections to Thursday Island. Irene is one of the leading established Lockhart River artists and also the mother of acclaimed Lockhart River artist Rosella Namok.

Irene has a strong depth of cultural and traditional knowledge about her Country known as Kutini, which is Cassowary Country within the Iron Range in Lockhart River.

Irene’s perspective intertwines art and tradition as a cultural and personal expression: Her paintings are full of the vibrant colour of her country, and in Irene’s words, she paints “about her culture and her emotions”; she paints about what she knows:

“I like to play with the colours that blend, and that’s how I get the colours from the brightness of the sun, like morning sun, midday sun and afternoon sunset. I take it there now and put it on my linen and canvas, and plus we got water here, and when the sun rises, it makes a reflection on the saltwater at Sun Beach. That’s where I get my inspiration. We get sunrise every day in front of the beach.”

Subjects that inspire Irene’s artwork include the bush, bushfires, lagoons and waterholes. Interwoven with these are meeting places and special occasions or festivals. She paints an idyllic picture of the times where “we dress the kids up, paint them and then sit together and yarn round the campfire under the moonlight”.
Irene has participated in many successful solo and group exhibitions, including exhibitions at the Booker Lowe Gallery in Texas USA (2010) and Redot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore (2014). At exhibitions, Irene’s works frequently sell out, which is a measure of their extraordinary appeal.