Joanne Currie Nalingu

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2026 - Finalist

_{Image courtesy of artist.}

Joanne Currie Nalingu
QLD
Gungarri

River light mountain shadow
2026
Acrylic on canvas
49 x 148cm

Joanne Currie Nalingu has developed a an instantly recognisable style that reveals her distinctive sense of place. Elegant and minimal, her paintings feature flowing lines that echo river currents and mountain ranges, occasionally opening into eye-like forms that invite reflection on the layered meanings beneath these implied surfaces.

For more than 30 years, Currie has continued to refine her celebrated river line technique, experimenting with textured backgrounds and luminous finishes. Inspired by her childhood living at the Yumba on the banks of the Maranoa River in Mitchell, her river imbues both personal memory and universal metaphor she explains as, “a symbol for all rivers, for all people.”

Soft background shadows of pink and orange, described by the artist as “that particular glow at dusk,” blend rhythmic (black and white) river lines to create a metaphysical landscape that quietly mesmerises, unfolding slowly over time.