Zaachariaha Fielding

Zaachariaha Rameth Fielding (born 1991/1992) is an Aboriginal Australian musician and artist. He is best known as vocalist in the duo Electric Fields, with keyboard player and producer Michael Ross.

Early life and education Zaachariaha Fielding was born in 1991 or 1992, and Kaye Lowah and the oldest of nine children. he moved with his family to Mimili, in the remote Aboriginal homelands known as the APY lands, in north-west South Australia. He was strongly impressed by Whitney Houston growing up, and also watched many different bands which featured on the long-running TV music show Rage.

After moving to Adelaide at the age of 13

Music

Fielding featured on TV music talent show The Voice, making it to the grand final with as the duo ZK, with Kristal West, in 2014. and singing in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara besides English.

They have been nominated for and won several awards, including the National Indigenous Music Awards 2017 (Best New Talent); National Live Music Awards (several wins, both Fielding individually and the duo); and the South Australian Music Awards. They also came second in the Eurovision – Australia Decides contest which selected the act which would represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. They were eventually selected internally by SBS to represent Australia at the 2024 contest, with the song "One Milkali (One Blood)".

Art During the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia in 2020, he went to stay with his family and started painting with his nieces and nephews. Returning to Adelaide, he joined a group of artists at the APY Art Centre Collective in Adelaide, taking the opportunity to develop his talents in visual art. Fielding is represented by Hugo Michell Gallery and Jan Murphy Gallery.

His work integrates traditional elements and lore (Tjukurpa) with his personal style and his own view of Country, influenced by his memories of growing up in Mimili. In 2023 he said:

Art awards His work was selected as a finalist for the Ramsay Art Prize at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2021.

In May 2023 Fielding won the prestigious Wynne Prize for his acrylic painting representing the sounds of Mimili, titled Inma.

In August 2023 it was announced that his multi-panel work Wonder Drug had won the Ramsay Art Prize People's Choice prize at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Other recognition In 2016, Fielding was one of four finalists in the Department of Human Services Aboriginal Achievement Award for the South Australian Young Achiever Awards, impressing judges with "how he shares his culture and language through music – breaking down cultural barriers and giving inspiration to young Aboriginal people".

In 2019, he was awarded the Rowdy Group Creative Achievement Award in the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards.

Film and television Fielding was selected by Baz Luhrmann to sing "Somewhere over the Rainbow" in the Yolngu language in his 2008 film Australia. about a group of children in Mimili preparing to compete in the annual Ernabella Dance Competition.

Electric Fields are the subject of a 2018 SBS/NITV documentary, "Voice From The Desert", part of the Our Stories series, featuring emerging Indigenous Australian creatives. It follows Fielding on a visit to Mimili, where he examines his early life experiences growing up in remote South Australia and his artistic and personal growth, and includes interviews with his parents. The series of three films included one Elaine Crombie and her mother Lillian Crombie, and another about dancers Taree and Caleena Sansbury.

Fielding and Ross wrote the songs "Shade Away" and "Don't You Worry", which are featured in the soundtrack for the 2019 feature film Top End Wedding, performed by Electric Fields.

He appears as himself, as part of the duo Electric Fields, in Taryn Brumfitts' 2022 film about body image, Embrace: Kids.