Nikita Newley is a First Nations artist from Gurang Gurang country, currently living on Kabi Kabi country. Her creative journey started in the simplest way: as a kid, she’d spend hours drawing in her bedroom. Growing up without much, she learnt early on that creativity could turn nothing into something.
Art was the only thing that kept her going through school. But it wasn’t until she became a parent that the joy of creating really came flooding back. What began as escaping to her ‘happy place’ has grown into a professional practice. She started showcasing her work in 2019-2020, and in just a few years has achieved things that still make her do a double-take.
Like many artists, Nikita isn’t always confident about sharing her work. So when people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, connect with how she sees and expresses the world, it means everything.
Creating From the Elements
Nikita’s mosaic work draws from the elements that sustain us: wind, water, earth and fire. Ancestors always find their way into her pieces, along with the pathways that lead us to each moment and the riverways that keep us connected.
The Seven Sisters star constellation appears throughout her art, alongside the morning star she sees rising each morning from the East coast, bright and constant.
She is part of the most recent Development for Kabi Kabi Aboriginal Corporation, Mundai Dja (Broadmedows), on a range of art projects, including a custom design for the front entry sign, a laser-cut screen, and a lift panel artwork.
The work found her, as it often does, perfectly aligned with what matters most: community, coming together, listening, learning, yarning. We’re all made up of different elements, she says, but together we can create something beautiful.
A Space to Feel Safe
Nikita hopes her art makes people feel comfortable, safe, at home and grounded.
“When you come home, it should be that space where you can feel safe and settled.”
