Territory artists have shone at this year's Tesltra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, taking out the majority of the prizes at the awards ceremony this evening.
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The NATSIAA is Australia's longest running and most prestigious Indigenous art competition, with all the finalists' work showcased each year at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin.
More than 300 works were entered into this year's awards, with 65 being chosen as finalist and winners being named in seven categories.
The overall winner was Timo Hogan from the community of Tjuntjuntjara in Western Australian for his work Lake Baker.
Mr Hogan said his painting pays homage to his father's Country.
"I'm painting Lake Baker. It's a sacred place. My father showed me the Tjukurpa (spiritual/ancestral creation story) when I was a boy," he said.
"I am very happy to have won this award. It makes me feel strong inside."
East Arnhem Land artist Dhambit Mununggurr won the Telstra Bark Painting Award for her work Bees at Bees at Gangan.
Ms Munungurr said the work is about her father "telling me a story about the relationship with the world."
This is the first time Ms Munungurr, 50, has won an art award after she first started painting when she was 13.
"I'm so happy, I could fly."
She said she learnt to paint from her parents who were both award-winning artists.
Ms M Wirrpanda from Yirrkala in the Northern Territory took out the Telstra Works on Paper Award for her work Untitled.
She passed away earlier this year, but her grandson Ishmael Marika - who was also a finalist in the Awards - accepted the award on her behalf.
Tiwi Islands artist Pedro Wonaeamirri was awarded the Telstra Multimedia Award for his like performance of Jilarti (brolga song) while wearing a number of handmade ceremonial objects.
Alice Springs artists Hubert Pareroultja and Mervyn Rubuntja won the Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Awart for their work Through the veil of time which depicts the Central Desert through the eyes of the Hermannsburg School.
The Telstra Emerging Artist Award was awarded to Kyra Mancktelow from Logan in Queensland for her ink etching Moongalba 11 which "exploits the medium of printmaking, textiles and etching to communicate a deeply paintful and dark chapter of Australian History."
Western Australian painter Bugai Whyoulter won the Telstra General Painting Award for her work Wantili.
The exhibition of the finalists will open to the public in Darwin on Saturday August 7. An online exhibition of the works is also available at https://natsiaa.com.au
