Source : the age
On first glance it’s a peaceful scene, but a quiet sense of dread and unease creeps up on you almost immediately. It takes a moment to figure out why. The central figure is peaceful; a man sleeping, head rolled to one side, his hand draped across his middle. But he’s sleeping next to a gun – and that gun is perched precariously on a ledge over a body of water. In the background the gentle colours suggest a beautiful day drawing to a close; but then you see the smoke rising.
Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed by Marri Ngarr artist Dr Ryan Presley has just been announced as the 2026 winner of the $100,000 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Art Award.
The multimedia artist and academic’s works span drawings, installation, performance, painting, writing and games. “I like blending ideas and bringing different things together,” Presley says.
He has had a long-standing interest in Renaissance, baroque and romantic period works, but it was when he first saw the 16th century painting The Annunciation by Domenico Beccafumi that he knew he wanted to create something that both referenced it and captured the moody atmosphere. “I really liked the mix of dark and light and there was a real intense quality to the work,” says Presley.
The scaffolding Beccafumi provides to Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed is clear, though the feeling of Presley’s painting is entirely different. “It’s quite ethereal and moody in the original work. So I kept elements of that, and then changed the landscape, changed the building. Made it more localised.” There are eucalyptus trees and bushfires in the distant mountain ranges to create “an unsettling quality – a mix between beauty and disaster”.
The central figure is another classical reference with a local and modern twist; Adonis by Antonio Corradini. It’s a subject Presley has tackled previously, in his large-scale drawing Daydreamer IV (2024). “After putting that together … I was like, ah, I like this, but I think I can take it further.” Instead of a reinterpretation of the original sculpture, here he breathed more life into the sleeping figure; made it feel truly alive.
The final result is a work that is both familiar and alien, comfortable and stressful. A man who is oblivious to the dangers around him, sleeping as the world burns. “I like that push and pull,” says Presley. “Ornate things mixed with ominous qualities … mixing in acceptance of reality as well as ignoring or denial of reality”.
The 64 finalists were drawn from a pool of 221 entries, with this year’s judging panel made up of artists Julie Gough, Yhonnie Scarce and Warraba Weatherall, with all finalist works on display in an exhibition at Darwin’s Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT).
Guest curator Dr Shannon Brett explains that after the finalists were selected “we realised that there’s an overwhelming story or theme about women in many of the works – and these are stories that are even being delivered by some of the men. So stories about grandmothers, mothers, family, the power of women, women on country. It’s just a beautiful thing.”
Tiwi artist Colin Heenan-Puruntatameri was this year’s Multimedia Award winner for his video work Ngirramini Ngini Amparruwu (The Story of the Widow). Part of his work as an artist is creating a cultural archive. “The mission’s ultimate goal was to eradicate culture, and it is our goal to do the opposite,” he says.
Video has a role to play in passing on culture, he explains. “These things will be here long after us. My mother’s cousin isn’t here any more, but I can sing her song. That means her great-grandchildren can now learn that song and keep passing it on, and it’s now documented forever on this digital space.”
Gulumerridjin, Wardaman and KarraJarri artist Jenna Mayilema Lee won the Work on Paper Award for Taking Back Taken. The work is constructed entirely out of repurposed maps from the British Museum. Lee first had the idea when she was living in London, and noticed that the museum were asking for a £2 donation for their maps.
“I thought that was really interesting to ask people to donate in order to have a wayfinding map, when I guess the justification from the British Museum for still having a lot of objects is that it means everybody in the world can come and see it. So I just decided to take maps without paying,” she explains. Over the years, friends visiting the museum contributed to her growing collection, and, after painstakingly honing her technique, the result was the six paper dillybags that make up Taking Back Taken.
Other category winners, who each receive $15,000, included Vanessa Inkamala who won the Telstra General Painting Award for Arrkurla Nukala / Lyaarta Ntema, Barayuwa Munuŋgurr who won the Bark Painting Award for The Hidden Reef at Yarrinya, Napuwarri Marawili who won the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award for Djambatj – Deadly Hunter and Guruwuy Murrinyina who won the Emerging Artist Award for Prismatic Arc.
Brett loves every work in the exhibition, but asked about Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed, says the painting is special. “It’s all there. That work is about the past, the present, potentially the future. It’s not only about culture and people, it’s about art. It’s actually about art and different ways of communicating through art. And it’s also technically brilliant.”
“Creativity has a huge role in being a human being,” says Presley. “Maybe not enough people make the connection [of] how critical it is and how much it threads into our day-to-day lives,” he continues. However, “it’s integral to our existence”.
The NATSIAA 2026 exhibition is at MAGNT, Darwin, until January 24, 2027.
Elizabeth Flux travelled to Darwin as a guest of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
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