The great-granddaughter of Arrernte legend Hetty Perkins has created this amazing tribute to her

Thea Anamara Perkins comes from a long line of strong women. Now she's giving her great-grandmother the recognition she deserves.

'Stockwoman' by Thea Perkins on display at Sydney's Carriageworks. Source: Supplied

Covering the public space walls of Sydney's iconic Carriageworks is the great Hetty Perkins.

Two large murals, together titled Stockwoman, were created by Arrernte and Kalkadoon artist Thea Anamara Perkins.

It's Perkins' largest work to date, and is a tribute to her great-grandmother and Arrernte Elder Hetty.

Mural of Hetti Perkins by her great-granddaughter Thea displayed at Carriageworks in Sydney. Source: Supplied

From the age of 14, Hetty worked riding horses and branding cattle in the gold mining settlement of Arltunga, 110 km east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs).

She remains an icon for her descendants.

“My great-grandmother Hetty was an extraordinary woman, and our family owes everything to her," Thea told NITV.

"It was her strength and resilience that meant that are here today."

Choosing who we honour

Arrernte and Kalkadoon artists and great-granddaughter of Hetty Perkins, Thea Anamara Perkins. Credit: N.Smith Gallery

For Thea, honouring her matriarch was an honour.

“It really is a tribute to her and her legacy, so it’s been a wonderful challenge pushing my style to that scale but now that it's close to being finished I’m really happy," she said.

Not only are the murals an homage to Hetty, but they also seek to question the figures in Australian history that are mythologised.

“It’s honouring her life but also it's about looking at who we honour in this country and the figures that we should be celebrating," she said.

She hopes her creation can trigger more public art that recognises Indigenous heroes.

“In a kind of simple way, it is about addressing that by showing the brilliance, the beauty, the strength and the dynamism of our culture," she said.

“I want figures like Nana, and there were many... to be a part of the collective imagination when we imagine this country."

From a family with an incredible legacy, Thea herself is forging her own with each stroke of a paintbrush.

“It’s wonderful because it is an inspiration, but it also taught me that everyone has agency and you could do it in your own way," she explained.

"For me, it's working in the arts but with Nana it was what she did caring for her children and surviving and responding to the frontier arriving in her lifetime.”

Stockwoman is currently on show as part of Sydney Festival.

One of the two murals that make up 'Stockwoman' by Thea Perkins. Credit: Zan Wimberley