Thea Anamara Perkins an Archibald finalist with portrait of filmmaker Rachel Perkins

Sydney artist Thea Anamara Perkins is making portraits of Aboriginal people to captivate and inspire.

Artist Thea Anamara Perkins, in her studio in Sydney, is a finalist in the prestigious Archibald Prize with her portrait of aunt Rachel Perkins. Picture: Hugh Stewart

Thea Anamara Perkins is a three-time Archibald Prize finalist, previously with portraits of artist Christian Thompson and her grandfather, Charles “Chicka” Madden, but her third attempt at the celebrated award may be the most significant yet.

She has been selected as a finalist for the centenary Archibald Prize with a painting of her aunt, filmmaker Rachel Perkins – a portrait she describes as an important “cultural statement”.

It depicts Rachel Perkins at dusk in Alice Springs, wearing ochres painted on her body as symbols of her Arrernte heritage.

The Art Gallery of NSW last week revealed the 52 finalists in the running for the $100,000 ­Archibald Prize, to be announced on Friday.

Thea Anamara Perkins’ portrait of Rachel Perkins. Picture: Supplied

Perkins, 29, said she was delighted to be selected as a finalist with her “intimate and tender” portrait of her aunt, but being a three-time finalist raised the emotional pressure.

“I was super-proud and, I guess, incredibly nervous,” she said of being selected as a finalist.

“The first time I didn’t think I had a chance, so now it’s even more nerve-racking.”

In an interview for WISH magazine out on Friday, Perkins, a granddaughter of Aboriginal activist and public servant Charles Perkins, discusses the powerful familial and cultural heritage of which she is a young custodian.

For the cover, she has painted a portrait of herself at age three.

It is based on a family photograph in which she is wearing a T-shirt with the Aboriginal flag. Perkins’s mother is art curator and writer Hetti Perkins, and her aunt Rachel is the founder of Blackfella Films, whose feature films include Bran Nue Dae and Jasper Jones, and the recent TV series Total Control.    

Perkins decided to paint her aunt in Alice Springs where she was working on a project with local Arrernte women.    

She has recorded the women’s songs and ceremonies on video, preserving their language and cultural expression for future generations.

“I am really proud of what ­Rachel is doing,” Thea Perkins said. “We are living a lot of our lives in the city, but to be connected to that ancient tradition is such a beautiful thing.”

She said she wanted to depict Indigenous people in captivating and inspiring portraits.

“As Aboriginal people, we all stand on the shoulders of giants; it is a huge legacy,” she said.

“Through representing people, (a portrait) can contain all of the things that I want to say about Aboriginal people – being brilliant and bold and beautiful, and doing these amazing things.”