Kutaweirah (King Billy)

Winner ‘Claremont Local Artist’ award 2023

Kutaweirah, also known as King Billy, was an Aboriginal elder from the Murchison region in Western Australia. When visiting Perth, he used to stay with friends in camps around Butler's Swamp (now Lake Claremont). In 1913, King Billy met artist and sculptor Alexander Doepel, who lived nearby in Barnfield Road, Claremont. King Billy agreed to sit while Doepel created a clay model head and then cast a bust. The bust now sits in the Claremont Museum.

Judges comments: “The work is skilfully and imaginatively executed, an original approach which shows vibrancy and assuredness in the artist’s mark making technique. The subject engages with local history, the Claremont Museum collection, and its scale demands attention to a potentially overlooked local narrative.