Dennis Nona

DOB: c.1973 -
BORN: Badu Island, QLD
LANGUAGE GROUP: Kala Lagaw Ya/  Brokan - Torres Strait creole
COMMUNITY: Torres Strait, QLD

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Dennis Nona is widely acknowledged as one of the most important Torres Strait Islander artists. Born on Badu Island in 1973 he was taught as a young boy the traditional craft of woodcarving.

The Nona family of Saibai belong to two clans; the first is a snake totem, Tabu Augudal and second is a stingray totem, Tupmul Augadal.
Trained in traditional wood carving and shell etching as a child, his work includes etchings linocuts, etchings and sculpture. Rich decorative style drawing on narrative legends of the Torres Strait Islanders, and traditional designs and artefacts. An important figure in the Torres Strait art movement since the 1990s; pioneered the development of highly intricate linocut prints, unique to the Torres Strait Islands.
Work comes in visual form, ancient myths and legends from Badu Island and the wider Torres Strait Islands. There is a celebration of Island myths and legends of how humans, animals, plants and landscape took their meaning from epic or magical events in the past. Nona utilizes contemporary printmaking to bring old legends to a new audience. Having learnt the intricacies of traditional carving as a boy on Badu Island, later work applied these techniques to lino cutting.

In 2007, he became the youngest Australian artist and the first Torres Strait Islander to win the 1st prize of the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. In 2008, in 2010 and again in 2011, Dennis received the Telstra Works on Paper Award.

Nona pioneered the development of the highly intricate linocut prints unique to the Torres Strait Islands. Instead of a work based on a single image like that of the traditional Torres Strait Islander art, he introduced many. In this way, he could relate an entire narrative in one single work. Since this breakthrough, the imagery created by printmakers like Nona, has given local culture a vital reinvigoration. Today they are central to a cultural revival and elders now refer to them to help them to relate ancient stories to others.

Work is held in major Australian art institutions and several overseas collections: Australia’s National Gallery, all the State Galleries, and in a growing number of important overseas institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum (London) the Tjibaou Cultural Center (Nouméa), the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Rochefort) and the Musée des Confluences (Lyon).