Kerry Klimm
Guguu Yalanji, Koko Lamalama • Artist
Kerry Klimm & Professor Henrietta Marrie AM, CIAF 2025. Photograph: Studio Sol by Alicia Jade.
About
Kerry Klimm is a Gugu Yalanji and Koko Lamalama woman who grew up in Gimuy and now resides in Meanjin. Her family history is shaped by the impacts of the Stolen Generations, with her nana and pop taken to Yarrabah in the early 1900s, and her aunties, uncles, and mother born there.
Klimm has been practicing and selling art over the past five years. Her work is created first and foremost for Blackfullas. While she acknowledges that her art may offer non-Indigenous audiences a glimpse into her world as a Black woman in so-called Australia, they are not her primary audience or focus.
Her practice speaks to lived experiences of racism across society, education, and the workplace. It also celebrates Black humour as an important form of survival, creating space for laughter, recognition, and strength. Importantly, her work seeks to make Blackfullas feel seen, heard, powerful, and strong.