Artist Megan Cope took home the $50,000 Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards prize for her video piece about Indigenous identity titled 'Blacktism' - a piece on Indigenous identity - ahead of NAIDOC Week.
Ms Cope was thrilled that her hard work was recognised. "It is the most terrifying artwork I've ever made in my life," she said.
The video piece was a response to the emotional journey Megan underwent when she felt she was required to prove her Aboriginality through the form of a certificate.
It is the most terrifying artwork I've ever made in my life.
"It was then that I realised this certificate is not for us, it's for non-Aboriginal people because they are still not comfortable with us defining yourself, and being ourselves and living the way we live and being how we are," she told NITV News.
Ngaanyatjarra woman Eunice Yunurupa Porter brought home the West Australian Artist of the Year for using scrap and tin from Warakurna to depict the threats of mining to her homelands. She won the $10,000 WA Prize.
Aunty Eunice said she was a little overwhelmed at the attention she received: "And I, yeah, well, now I'm here," she said.
Fourteen artists submitted a wide variety of pieces that art lovers and artists alike came to see. The exhibition will continue until October.
