Artist Konstantina (Kate Constantine). Image courtesy of the artist.
Konstantina (Kate Constantine) is a proud Gadigal woman of the Eora nation and an Indigenous contemporary artist. She primarily re-imagines the traditions of her peoples’ dot painters, providing a contemporary narrative for Australians to better understand First Nations people part in Australia's social, cultural, political and economic fabric. Her work also encompasses installation , research, socially engaged practices, drawing and textile. Her public artworks are some of the more recent additions to her practice. These interventions have taken place in a variety of locations, including shopping centres, parklands, immersive art spaces and office buildings.
As a descendant of the Gadigal, Konstantina is passionate about maintaining strong ties to her language, culture and histories, many of which have been lost, misplaced, or manipulated since colonisation. Konstantina's practice is therefore interconnected with her Mob and their oral histories. By marrying this connection to Gadigal culture with academic research, Konstantina's artworks become a physical manifestation of her peoples' stories and histories. She describes them as, "a document in time to reconnect my people to their Country."
Konstantina is represented internationally by galleries in Paris, London, Sydney, Melbourne and Margaret River. Her solo exhibitions have sold out consistently for almost a decade. She is held in high regard by major public institutions in both Australia and the United Kingdom and is the recipient of over 20 finalist awards for significant art prizes. Most recently, Konstantina has collaborated with the British Museum, London on a research and response project, entitled Gadigal: Yilabara Wala (Gadigal: Now and Then) supported by The Balnaves Foundation, Sydney and Sidney Nolan Trust, Presteigne. Konstantina has been exploring the museum's archive of Gadigal objects with a view to re-claim knowledge of the processes through which these objects are made and then to re-make them for the next generation of her peoples. This process both revives and repatriates Gadigal knowledge, which has been held by the British Museum since Australia's colonisation.