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SPECIAL OPENING EVENT
Thursday 24 SEPTEMBER, 6-8PM
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Curated by Jarra Karaliner Steel
Exhibiting artists: Blaktasia, ENOKi, Molly Hunt, Jay Kulbardi, April Phillips and DESIRAI Saunders
Blak Pixels brings together artists working across game development, animation, illustration and screen-based media. Celebrating the breadth of contemporary First Peoples digital art practice, the exhibition foregrounds how Indigenous artists are shaping digital spaces through storytelling, experimentation and shared cultural expression.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS
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Blaktasia® video game and the Blaktasia Universe are created and led by a team of First Nations artists, musicians, designers and creative technologists working at GUCK.
In Blaktasia, players restore the bush, encounter animals, unlock minigames and take on the corrupting force of the Murk within a First Nations fantasy world informed by Country.
As the project has grown, Blaktasia has become a distinctive, ambitious and multidisciplinary creative work. We refer to this expanding body of work as the Blaktasia Universe. It spans visual art, music, digital interaction, dance, video, sculpture, fashion and textiles, storytelling, installation and live experience.
After many years of deep investment in artistic and professional development, Cultural protocol development, research, pre-production, community collaboration and consultation, the team at GUCK is excited to share more of the Blaktasia Universe with First Nations audiences.
Blaktasia Team:
Executive Producers: Hayley Percy (Wiradjuri) & Kati Elizabeth
Lead Game Designer & Gamerunner: Phoebe Watson (Gunditjmara)
Creative Director: Charlotte Allingham (Wiradjuri, Ngiyampaa)
Founding Art Director: Jarra Karalinar Steel (Boon Wurrung, Wemba Wemba, Trawlwoolway)
Music Director, Lead Composer & Associate Game Designer: Robert Champion (Gubrun, Kokatha, Mirning)
Tech Artist, Junior Programmer: Elijah McDonald (Noongar, Pitta Pitta, Yamatji)
Lead Programmers: Daniel Dang & Maya Kerr
Concept Artist: Trish McKean (Gunditjmara, Kirrae Wurrong)
Community Co-ordinator: Tash Matthews (Ngarla & Nyamal)
Snr Artist & Associate Art Director: Olivia Haines
Arts & Culture Producer: Rosie Kalina (Gunditjmara, Wemba Wemba)
Videography & Animation: Sasipim Srisunakhrua
Additional contributors: Ika Jumali, Ally McLean Hennessy, Bec Oborn, Mardie Jackson, Ripley Kavara, Jonathan Swanson, Romy Fox, Matthew Heffernan (Luritja/Arrernte/Pintupi), Jiedyn Cooper (Torres Strait Islander), Letoya Muraru (Kungarakan, Gurindji, Wardaman) -
ENOKi (they/them) is a proud Djaara, Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba and Gunai/Kurnai Multi-Media artist who has been living and creating on Wurundjeri Country (Melbourne). In their practice they explore Blakness and Queerness with bright vibrant colours inspired by Pop-Art and Native Flora.
Some of ENOKi’s most prominent work includes the First People's RISING art tram My Aunty Once Told Me (Routes 58 & 59), Apple’s 2023 World Pride Campaign, Red Bull’s 2024 Cliff Dive Tower, 2024’s Mob In Fashion’s Back In Blak runway carpet for Melbourne Fashion Festival.
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Molly Hunt is a Balanggarra and Yolŋu artist, illustrator, animator, and storyteller whose practice spans digital art, animation, comics, murals, and community-led creative projects.
Growing up in the Kimberley, Molly’s work is deeply influenced by Country, community and the stories and characters of remote Australia. Her colourful contemporary style explores identity, culture and everyday life, particularly through representations of First Nations women and young people.
Alongside her own practice, Molly works with young people across regional and remote communities through collaborative murals, digital art and storytelling workshops, with a strong focus on creating pathways into the creative industries.
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Jay Kulbardi is a contemporary artist based in Ballarat. As a proud Bibbulmun and Chilean transgender artist, Jay works across both traditional and digital art mediums to promote cultural story-telling and personal expression. Jay's process applies symbolism to psychology, focusing on the parallel between how neurons branch and connect, and how we as humans connect to each other.
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April Phillips is a Wiradjuri-Scottish woman of the Galari / Kalari peoples, living and working in regional Australia. Her art practice is cemented in futurism and media arts; as lead artist / director working across moving images, illustration, 3D assets, AR research, and photogrammetry. In 2022 April was awarded the Women in Digital award for excellence, advocacy, innovation and social impact, in recognition of her work in digital arts.
Her practice extends to analogue materials and processes including drawing, printmaking, ceramics and glass. She works within collaborative environments to realise ambitious projects, leading teams to do big things. April employs character design as a narrative tool to explore empathy, fun and form. Her use of vivid colour and unlikely digital processes celebrates the potential of computer art for a new world.
As a founding member of the Friends with Computers collective, April works to playfully engage digital technologies as tools for her art making, with a focus on futurism, human intelligence and ethical methodologies.
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DESIRAI Saunders (DESIRAI) is a proud Gunggari woman and South-east Queensland-based artist whose practice explores contemporary First Nations identity and the intersection of cultural identity and modern urban experience.
Known for her bold, character-driven visual language, DESIRAI’s work often begins with lived experience and personal observation, exploring the humour, emotion, expectations and complexities of being First Nations today. Her work is particularly interested in how culture, identity and belonging are experienced within contemporary everyday life.
With a foundation in digital illustration, DESIRAI is increasingly moving into more conceptual and multidisciplinary work, expanding her visual language through public art, installation and experimentation with new mediums.
Across her practice, DESIRAI creates work that feels honest, relatable and distinctly contemporary, reflecting the complexities of First Nations identity and experience today.
