Sarrita King / Earth Elements – Water (SK271)

Sarrita King was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 5 March 1988. She is a proud Gurindji/Waanyi woman who lives and works on Larrakia Country in Darwin. Sarrita is the younger sister of fellow artist Tarisse King and the daughter of the late, highly regarded artist William King Jungala (1966–2007).

Art, storytelling and family connection have been central to Sarrita’s life from an early age. Her father was an important artistic influence, sharing with Sarrita and Tarisse not only painting techniques, but stories, philosophies and ways of understanding Country that continue to inform their work today.

The history of the Gurindji people also forms an important cultural backdrop to Sarrita’s story. In 1966, Gurindji workers and their families, led by Vincent Lingiari, walked off Wave Hill Station in protest against poor wages and conditions. Their campaign developed into a nine-year struggle for the return of their land and became a defining moment in Australia’s land rights movement. In 1975, part of the Gurindji homelands was formally returned, and the campaign helped pave the way for the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

Sarrita spent much of her childhood in Darwin, where the dramatic climate and landscapes of the Northern Territory made a lasting impression on her. She began painting at the age of 16, drawing inspiration from tropical storms, lightning, torrential rain, fire, changing seasons, waterways and the vast patterns of the land. These early observations have developed into a sophisticated contemporary practice in which Country is explored through movement, repetition, colour and layered imagery.

Sarrita combines intricate dotting with techniques and philosophies passed on by her father, alongside methods she has developed throughout her own career. Her paintings often move away from conventional landscape representation, instead drawing the viewer into layered and sometimes aerial perspectives of Country. Through series including Lightning, Ancestors, Earth Elements, Ngurra and Our Land, she explores the natural forces that shape the landscape as well as ideas of memory, family, ancestry and continuing connection to Country.

Over more than two decades, Sarrita has developed an extensive national and international following. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout Australia and internationally, represented in major private and institutional collections and recognised through numerous national art prize selections. Her Lightning artwork was also selected for Samsung’s original international art collection for The Frame television in 2017.

Sarrita has also worked beyond the traditional canvas. From 2014 to 2017 she created a series of Indigenous guernsey designs for the North Melbourne Football Club, including a 2016 collaboration with Tarisse. Her work has extended into sculpture, digital presentation, public projects and fashion.

More recently, Sarrita and Tarisse founded KingKing Creative, a Blak-owned creative business based on Larrakia Country. Building on their long careers as contemporary artists, the sisters transform their original artworks into fashion, jewellery, accessories and homewares, carrying their stories from Country into contemporary design. KingKing Creative has rapidly grown from a local creative venture into a nationally recognised First Nations fashion label.

In 2025, KingKing Creative presented at Country to Couture in Darwin and made its Melbourne Fashion Week debut on the ganbu marra runway. In 2026, the label appeared at the Beyond Blak runway at the PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival before making its Australian Fashion Week debut, presenting its Calling from Country collection as part of the New Generation showcase.

Alongside KingKing Creative, Sarrita has developed an ongoing fashion collaboration with independent designer EDITION. Their Walking on Country collection debuted at Country to Couture in 2024 and has since been presented at the PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival and Australian Fashion Week, translating Sarrita’s original artwork into sculptural and wearable forms.

Today Sarrita continues to live and paint in Darwin with her partner Chad and their sons Steele and Grange, balancing her studio practice with family life and the continued development of KingKing Creative. Her work remains grounded in storytelling and Country, carrying forward knowledge shared by her father while continually finding new ways to express those connections for another generation.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2024 Sarrita King | Ngurra, Wentworth Galleries, Sydney
• 2023 Jintaku | One, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2023 Sarrita King, Pop-up Gallery at Westfield Woden, Canberra
• 2021 Land + Sky | Impressions of Country, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2016 Artist in Residence, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2014 Artist in Residence, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2014 Sarrita King: Pop Art, Ngarru Gallery, Port Douglas
• 2013 Artist in Residence, Ngarru Gallery, Port Douglas
• 2011 Connections: First Solo Exhibition, Gallery 577, Melbourne

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 2026 Vistas, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2024 Black + White, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2023 Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney
• 2022 Connection, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• 2022 Connection | King Sisters Sculptures Exhibition, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2020 Sounds of Summer, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2019 Tarisse King & Sarrita King, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2019 Defining Tradition: the first wave & its disciples, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2018 Sarrita and Tarisse King, East Hotel, Canberra
• 2017 Ancestors, Elements, Heritage, Sarrita King & Tarisse King, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2016 Asia Contemporary Art Show, Hong Kong
• 2015 King Sisters Artist in Residence, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2014 Sarrita & Tarisse King, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2012 Art Expo, Singapore
• 2012 Contemporary Art, Artcurial, Paris
• 2011 Language of the Earth, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2010 In Our Father’s Eyes, Aboriginal Dreamtime Gallery, Los Angeles
• 2009 Artcurial Auction and Exhibition, Paris, France
• 2009 The Three Kings, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2006 Kings Exhibition, La Jolla, USA

FASHION & DESIGN

• 2026 Australian Fashion Week, New Generation Showcase, KingKing Creative, Sydney
• 2026 Australian Fashion Week, EDITION x Sarrita King, Sydney
• 2026 PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival, Beyond Blak Runway, KingKing Creative, Melbourne
• 2026 Showcase First Nations Fashion + Design: Reclamation, KingKing Creative, Artspace, Sydney
• 2025 Melbourne Fashion Week, ganbu marra runway, KingKing Creative, Melbourne
• 2025 Country to Couture, Maju Karlaj (sister sister), KingKing Creative, Darwin
• 2025 PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival, Resort Glam, Sarrita King x EDITION, Melbourne
• 2024 Country to Couture, Walking on Country, Sarrita King x EDITION, Darwin

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 2026 Darwin NAIDOC Awards, Artist of the Year
• 2026 National Indigenous Fashion Awards, Business Achievement Award Finalist, KingKing Creative, Sarrita & Tarisse King
• 2026 National Indigenous Fashion Awards, Wearable Art Award Finalist, Sarrita King x EDITION
• 2024 National Contemporary Art Prize, Finalist
• 2023 National Capital Art Prize, Finalist
• 2023 Muswellbrook Art Prize, Finalist
• 2022 National Capital Art Prize, First Nations, Finalist
• 2022 42nd Alice Prize, Finalist
• 2019 Sarrita and Tarisse King’s artwork selected to wrap the BMW flagship store, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney
• 2017 Lightning selected for Samsung’s international The Frame Art Collection
• 2014 Pommery Champagne Pop Art Series Labels, Sarrita & Tarisse King

• SELECTED COMMISSIONS & PROJECTS

• 2017 North Melbourne Football Club, Tribal, Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey, designed by Sarrita King with players Lindsay Thomas, Jed Anderson and Daniel Wells
• 2016 North Melbourne Football Club, Bloodlines, Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey, Sarrita & Tarisse King
• 2015 North Melbourne Football Club, Our Icon II, Indigenous Round guernsey, Sarrita King
• 2014 North Melbourne Football Club, Our Icon, Indigenous Round guernsey, Sarrita King
• 2013 Earth Cycles featured in Channel 9’s The Block: All Stars following its purchase for Dan and Dani’s kitchen and dining space

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

• Western Australian Museum
• Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
• Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Môtiers, Switzerland

Growing up in Darwin, Sarrita King developed a deep appreciation for the dramatic seasonal changes of the Northern Territory and the way water continually transforms the landscape.

In her Earth Elements series, Sarrita draws inspiration from the freshwater pools and waterways found throughout the Northern Territory. Layers of intricate dotting create a sense of movement across the surface, while circular forms evoke pools of water and the natural patterns created as water gathers and travels through the landscape.

The flowing composition reflects the constant movement of water across Country, sometimes quiet and still, at other times spreading and reshaping the land with the changing seasons.