For three decades, Shane Pickett has defined himself as one of Western Australia’s most compelling and important contemporary Indigenous artists. Combining a deep spiritual interest in his Nyoongar heritage with a passionate and innovative form of gestural abstraction, Pickett’s works create a complex visual metaphor for the persistence of Indigenous culture against the colonising tide of modernity.

His latest body of work explores the role of Indigenous knowledge in the healing process. For Pickett, this is a process of spiritual, physical and cultural regeneration. Through the power of the Dreaming, he offers a vision of healing and hope for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians based upon mutual respect and understanding.

For the Nyoongar people of south-western Australia, healing is an act of physical and spiritual regeneration that extends from the landscape and the Dreaming. According to Shane Pickett,
At the healing grounds, guardians of good energy would come together. As custodians of these important spaces and all their spiritual energies, they were responsible for teaching the law and resolving conflict through the land’s healing energy. The healing spirits of these places is strong. By rekindling this energy, and through shared respect and community responsibility, we can work towards unity and healing through the power of the Dreaming paths that run throughout the land.

The power of Shane Pickett’s unique artistic vision has seen him acclaimed as one of the nation’s leading contemporary Indigenous artists. In 2007, he was one of 31 artists selected for Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Triennial and he has been selected as one of 16 finalists for the WA Indigenous Art Award which will be launched at the Art Gallery of Western Australia this month. He is a previous winner of the Sunshine Coast Art Award, the Joondalup Invitation Art Award, the Drawing Together Art Award and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Art Award. In 2008 he completed a major commission for the foyer of the Western Australian District Court.

Art and Healing: The Paintings of Shane Pickett will be opened at 6pm on Wednesday 22 October by Professor Ian Anderson, Chair, Indigenous Health, The University of Melbourne. Shane Pickett will be present for the opening.