First Solo Exhibition For Nephi Denham

In just two weeks, Cardwell’s own Nephi Denham will be showcasing his talent at his very first solo exhibition at the Umbrella Studio in Townsville. A journey that started nearly 15 years ago, Nephi's passion for art was sparked when his auntie took him to the Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre back in 2010, and it’s been a creative adventure ever since.
Nephi’s connection to his culture has been a driving force behind his work.
“I’ve always wanted to learn about my culture, to understand and listen to the stories told through art,” he says. For his upcoming exhibition, Nephi will be presenting a diverse collection of paintings, weavings, and ceramics.
“I’ve got 46 pieces ready so far, but I’m aiming for 60 to 70 artworks,” he shares.
Nephi said his favourite art styles are weaving and ceramics, he enjoys that it involves more hands-on work.

“When you're weaving in, I sit there for hours. It takes my mind to another place and relaxes me, I suppose, as a person,” Nephi said.

“With ceramics, you can build a form that's possibly in your mind; you can shape it how you want to shape it, shape the clay, be the boss of the clay, and mould it how you'd like it to come out.”

Nephi is not the first in his family to be given the opportunity to display his artwork, art runs in his family.

“There were four other people before me, my father, auntie, sister, and another auntie from Mission Beach and now they have decided to put me up to display my artwork,” laughed Nephi.

“It’s exciting that it’s my first ever exhibition after so many years of helping other artists prepare for their own.”

Over the years, Nephi has learned the three styles of weaving and how to create ceramics. He uses these skills to teach other enthusiastic artists in workshops.

Nephi travels to Tully twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday.

“I teach a lot of ceramics, and also painting,” he said.

“Most years, we have specific themes; higher up gives that out every year, and we try to focus our work for that specific topic or theme.”