Atong Atem

Atong ATEM (Ethiopia) is a South Sudanese artist and writer living in Melbourne. Born in Ethiopia, she spent her first years in a Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp before moving to Australia as a child. There she studied painting at Sydney College of the Arts in 2012 before furthering her studies at RMIT University. Her work explores migrant narratives, postcolonial practices in the diaspora, the relationship between public and private spaces and identity through portraiture. She combines both photography and hand painting, incorporating bold colours and patterns inspired by her South Sudanese background.