In this article, Ian Plunkett from Japingka Gallery talks about Shane Pickett and a stunning painting, Glory of the Morning Sun, that has recently come from private collection into the gallery.

This is a painting that we're very pleased to have in the gallery, a classic work by Shane Pickett.

Shane was a local Nyoongar Boodja man, he was very well known in the art scene in Western Australia. Originally he was more identified for painting fairly typical landscapes of the country in and around the bush regions of the South-West, and that's what he was famous for. Towards the latter part of his career, probably during the last five or six years of his working life, he started experimenting with form and technique. His paintings became more abstract, but also what is termed crossover painting. The works have an element of Western abstraction, but with a very strong hint of Indigenous knowledge and culture permeating through the artwork.

Tragically Shane died way too young. I believe he was only 52, probably when he was at the height and the pinnacle of his career. He was just starting to reach critical acclaim around Australia. His works were becoming very highly sought after. Tragically he died of a heart condition, way too young.

To have this painting in the gallery is a real privilege. I personally love it, in that it is a fusion of Western and Indigenous cultures. If you get a chance to have a look at it, I think he's captured the feeling of the morning sun rising over country, over Indigenous country. It is stunning.