Rohin Kickett

Kate Owen Gallery is proud to represent Rohin Kickett, a Balardong Noongar artist from Balardong (York), Western Australia. Emerging as a strong and distinctive voice in the contemporary Aboriginal art movement, Rohin's work is both deeply personal and powerfully connected to Country.

Art has been a constant presence in Rohin's life. Growing up in a family of creatives, his early influences included his uncle, Dennis Kickett (Noongali), whose exhibitions he attended as a child. These experiences shaped his first steps as a painter, but it was later, through artists such as Andy Quilty and his experimental approaches to mark-making, that Rohin found the courage to develop his own unique artistic voice. "Everyone has their own way of mark making," he reflects, "but it's artists who go on the journey to discover it."

Today, Rohin's practice is centred on Country, especially the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. His large-scale aerial views capture the unique textures, patterns, and salt lakes of this landscape, which he describes as simultaneously "beautiful and dead."

His acclaimed 'Beautiful Dead' series explores the tension between beauty and ecological devastation, examining how Western farming practices have scarred Noongar land while also creating striking visual forms when seen from above. For Rohin, culture is inseparable from Country - and in painting the land as it appears today, he honours both its resilience and its ongoing story.

Rohin's works are visually striking and richly layered, balancing abstraction with the lived reality of place. His aerial landscapes are filled with sweeping gestures, intricate textures, and bold shifts in colour, creating canvases that are both textured and immersive. They invite viewers to see the land not as static ground but as a living archive of memory, culture, and change.

In a relatively short time, Rohin has built an impressive career. He has held three solo exhibitions, including shows at Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery and the Fremantle Biennale, won three major art awards, and created significant public artworks, most notably Custodian at Murdoch Square. Each achievement reflects his growing impact on both Aboriginal and contemporary Australian art.

At Kate Owen Gallery, we are thrilled to showcase Rohin Kickett's work. His paintings are not only visually compelling but also carry profound cultural and environmental narratives. To add one of his works to a collection is to bring in a powerful new perspective on Aboriginal art - one that combines tradition, innovation, and a fearless engagement with the present.

Copyright Kate Owen Gallery, August 2025