Charcoal artwork on art paper, by Nick Kupetsky, 102 cm x 64cm.
This artwork titled "Snake People" signifies the spiritual connection between Aboriginal people and the snake. Nick himself elaborates on his own connection to the crow, where once he had found a crow with a broken wing to which he cradled under his jacket and it became part of him until it was better and could return to nature.
Nick Kupetsky is a Palawa man from Tasmania and has been an artist for well over twenty years. His works have been exhibited in the National Gallery of Victoria and he has exhibited extensively through being a member of Baluk Arts Aboriginal Art Centre based in Mornington VIC.
Nick's work is inspired by old black and white photographs of his ancestors from Tasmania that provide a historical reference to the events of European impact on Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Nicks large charcoal and ochre drawings create the overwhelming emotion of the people who have been pictured which express grief, loss, confusion and dismay. Nick captures the persons strength, determination and inherent cultural integrity despite of what is happening to them. Nick has used his art to research his background and understand his history as a Palawa man.