Dreaming Path of Koorndaam by Meeyakba Shane Pickett

Combining his deep knowledge and concern for Nyoongar culture with a confident and individual style of gestural abstraction Pickett's paintings resonate with a profound but subtle immediacy. Balancing innovation with tradition modernity with an ancient spirituality they are complex visual metaphors for the persistence of Nyoongar culture against the colonising tide of modernity. A resident of the City of Stirling suburb of Balga Meeyakba Shane Pickett was one of the foremost Nyoongar artists of his generation. Pickett was selected as a finalist in numerous major art prizes including the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and in 2006 he was awarded first prizes at the Sunshine Coast Art Prize and Joondalup Invitation Art Award. In 2007 he was awarded first prize in the Inaugural Drawing Together Art Award. He has exhibited in every state and territory in Australia and his works are held in major private and public collections across the country.