The Black Dingo
Kalyanii Holden
The Black Dingo (detail) 2024
Midfire clay
Glaze, underglaze, ash, gold lustre, slip
51 x 28 x 28 cm
About the Artwork
The Black Dingo is a clay representation of the native black dingo I witnessed on a misty morning walk in Meanjin, on Turrbal land.
The sky was clear and the air was crisp; the path was lined with wattle as it was in the throes of winter. The dingo, bold and beauteous, stood unafraid in front of me on my morning walk with my cattle dog pup. It stood there frozen, looking at me for what seemed like a very long time, both of us held to place through each other’s gaze. It then disappeared into the bush silently like it had arrived. In Aboriginal culture, the dingo represents spiritual and physical protectors and guardians serving as a sacred bridge between this world and the spirit world. I pondered over who was visiting me today from beyond the veil, and what were they trying to convey.
Wattle has been pressed into the sculpture to connect the work to place where I encountered the black dingo.
About the Artist
Kalyanii Holden is an Australian multidisciplinary artist working across ceramics, photography and creative writing. She is based in Meanjin on Turrbal Country.
Kalyanii hand builds sculptural clay works, using a range of techniques, and materials including underglaze, slip, oxides, ash, glass and lustres. She often works into her forms while leather hard, so she can add texture and colour directly into the clay body.
Kalyanii’s practice explores themes of nostalgia, connection to place, and memories from her childhood of growing up in both urban and natural environments. Her work is a form of embodied storytelling that holds memories of the past, ideas about the present and possible futures.
Kalyanii has exhibited in 40 collaborative exhibitions and four solo shows, throughout Queensland, NSW and Berlin. She has been a finalist in The National Photographic Portrait Prize (2021), the Olive Cotton Awards (2019, 2021, 2025), Siliceous Award for ceramic excellence (2023, 2025), Australian Photography Awards (2026) and The Brisbane Portrait Prize (2025) to name a few. Over the past 12 years of working in ceramics, Kalyanii has developed her blue dog series based on her own cattle dog. Her sculptures and photographic works are held in both public and private collections within Australia and worldwide.