Biography of Kevin Williams.

Aboriginal activist, lawyer, academic, flim producer and artist, Kevin Williams is a descendant of the Wakka Wakka people from what is now called central southwest Queensland. He grew up on sheep and cattle properties in far western Queensland where his father worked as a stockman/fencer and his mother as a domestic.
As an activitist, Kevin was responsible for convincing the United Nations in 1998 that John Howard's "Native Title Amendment Act" was in breach of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Kevin William's is a lawyer. He has three University degrees - a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and a Master of Laws (LLM). Kevin is also an eductaor and academic. He has taught in several Universities (Australia and internationally) and in 2000 he was awarded the prestigious Lionel Murphy Scholarship for Postgraduate study. Kevin is currently lecturing in the School of Law, University of Newcastle, New South Wales and writing a University textbook on Australian indigenous legal issues.

As well as being involved in documentary and short film production - his latest work being an entry in Tropfest 2003 - Kevin is also a self-taught artist. He started to paint in 1989 and his work is now held in several countries including Germany, USA, England, New Zealand and of course, Australia.
Identity and culture are the dual themes of Kevin's paintings, with the biggest influences on his life were the two people Kevin was named after - his father George, (who passed away in his eightieth year in 1997) and his Uncle Kevin (who died in 2000, aged sixty nine). George taught Kevin the importance of his identity, and Uncle Kevin passed on to his nephew his knowledge of culture.

The inaugral presentation of Kevin's paintings to the public was at the "Bush City Black" exhibition (Sydney, 3rd March 2003). His work was critically acclaimed by many people from the Indigenous community including, Chicka Dixon, La Perouse elder ("The paintings are unusual! Very, very unusual ... there is something mysterious about them") and Mr Ken Dickson, Aboriginal promoter of art ("It's the first time I've seen this style (of art) ... it's unique, and different to a lot of work that I've seen and presented throughout the world, as well as here in Sydney").

Although Kevin now resides in the city (Newcastle, NSW), many of his paintings depict country where he comes from and country where he has lived. the images especially relate to the bush in parts of western Queensland where he grew up and these stark, desolate, dry areas are portrayed in the browns, blacks, whites and desert-like colours he uses.
Kevin Williams refers to much of his work as "Minimalist Indigenous Art": a play on the Aboriginal word Mia Mia, which is the name for a shelter made of bark and wood. Some of Kevin's latest paintings, however, feature both colours and patterns that are far removed from this 'minimalist' collection. His new pieces, including two innovative works on surfboards, indicate a shift in the way he paints. Kevin also dabbles in abstract works which are proving to be popular. Some of his future projects include painting traditional dot art on more surfboards, a park bench, photo frames, coffee tables, doors for buildings, a refrigerator and last but not least, a Fiat Bambino car.