Thea Anamara Perkins is a finalist in the 2021 Telstra NATSIA Award with her work 'A Bastard Like Me'.
Taking the cover of her grandfather Charles Perkins’ autobiography 'A Bastard Like Me' as the subject for this work, Thea’s portrait pays tribute to Charles’ fighting spirit and brings his extraordinary life story into the present.
'I’ve taken this image from his autobiography. It is something I have grown up with my whole life and we’ve always had these books present. It is only recently that I felt that I was on the technical level to tackle this image, but it is also a response to everything that has been happening in the world like Black Lives Matter and the continued issues in this country. It felt like the right time to evoke that spirit with this portrait.'
