The Art of Kaylene Whiskey: Do You Believe in Love?

Kaylene Whiskey’s paintings dazzle with brightly coloured pop stars rendered in dots and set amongst her own community in remote Central Australia. She depicts female pop culture icons – including Dolly Parton, Tina Turner, Catwoman, Cher and Wonder Woman – all connected to the Kungkarangkalpa Tjukurpa, or Seven Sisters Story. These heroines, however, are shown partying at Iwantja Art Centre in Indulkana, South Australia.

Her comic-book style and text bubbles are hilarious yet potent symbols of female power in an Aboriginal setting. A joyful visual anthem, Whiskey’s work draws from the country music, rock’n’roll and Anangu songs played in her household growing up. An in-depth interview with the artist punctuates the richly illustrated pages in which Whiskey describes her creative process – blending Anangu traditions with contemporary culture by painting jugs of Coca-Cola alongside mingkulpa (native bush tobacco), lollipops, honey ants and love hearts.

Edited by the renowned curator Natalie King and the team at Iwantja Arts, The Art of Kaylene Whiskey: Do You Believe in Love? is the first major monograph on the artist. Colourfully designed throughout and featuring a dynamic lenticular cover, the volume also includes contributions from notable creatives Taika Waititi, Jazz Money, Zoé Whitley, Clothilde Bullen and April Phillips.

Kaylene Whiskey is an artistic Swiss Army knife in the world of multimedia.’ – Taika Waititi

‘I was very excited that Kaylene honoured me through her art and I was glad that I could be an inspiration to her.’ – Dolly Parton

‘It’s one of my dreams for Dolly to come and visit me in Indulkana. I love to listen to her music while I paint: “9 to 5”, “Coat of many colours”, “Jolene”, and my number one, “Islands in the stream” with Kenny Rogers. I often think if Dolly came to visit, what would she do? What would she say? And what would she be wearing?’ – Kaylene Whiskey.