Arkeria Rose Armstrong

Arkeria Rose Armstrong is an Aboriginal artist of the Gamilaraay nation. Having a childhood spent traversing the Australian outback in a caravan, Armstrong later obtained a teaching degree before an offer from a Danish art gallery owner resulted in her official artistic debut in 2015. Her work is heavily based on inspiration from her grandparents, one a traditional dots in ochre painter and the other one of the last sand painters in New South Wales.

After her initial exhibition titled Strong Connection in the Aboriginal Art Gallery in Rotterdam, the opening presentation for her work having been done by the Australian ambassador to the Netherlands, Armstrong's pieces were exhibited in several other art galleries across Australia in the years since. However, her pieces continue to be exhibited in aboriginal art galleries in the Netherlands as well.

Childhood and education Born in Ceduna, South Australia in 1988, Armstrong's father decided to become a gold prospector when she was seven, resulting in her spending several years of her childhood in a caravan traveling across the Australian outback. She later graduated from La Trobe Bendigo with a degree in teaching. She completed a 30-piece collection titled Strong Connection for the exhibition, with one of her landscapes of the New South Wales region being the primary feature. The exhibition of her work was opened by Brett Mason, the Australian ambassador to the Netherlands at the time. That same year, an Exhibit B gallery was set up for a month in Bendigo, Victoria and established by the city coordinator, with Armstrong being one of the featured artists. In October 2017, a new exhibition of her work titled Black Soil was shown at the Dudley House gallery in Bendigo, Victoria, focusing on the agricultural soil of Gamilaraay country.

She was one of the artists represented in the 2019 Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia exhibition held by the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. She also partnered with the company Occulture to have jewelry developed with her paintings on them. Her work has also been featured at the Aboriginal Art Amsterdam gallery, such as her piece Miyamiyaa (Several Girls) in 2022, which represents the Seven Sisters constellation and its importance in Aboriginal folklore.

Personal life Armstrong lives in the region of the Djadjawurrung people in Bendigo, Victoria with her husband and daughter.