Melbourne based artist Craig Charles was born in Mildura, in Latje Latje country. He has Yorta Yorta heritage on his father's side, and Mhutti Mhutti heritage on his mother's side, and was raised by his great grandparents, Betty Charles, a descendent of the Djara people, and Ron Murray, a descendant of the Wamba Wamba/Lake Boga people.
From an early age, creativity was a part of Craig Charles life, listening to stories and drawing with Betty at the kitchen table from the age of four. Since completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998, Charles art practice has been concerned with celebrating Aboriginal people's resilience, paying tribute to family, ancestors and county, and sharing experience and stories with wider society. Craig Charles has also completed a Masters of Fine Art at RMIT University in Melbourne, pursuing these themes and developing technical approaches to articulating them. He draws on a range of artist and natural materials for symbolic purposes, including gold leaf and raw earth, and natural materials such as ochres and charcoal.
Craig Charles' works are recognisable for dramatic figurative and animal forms, and layered, scraped and glossy surfaces. They are often characterised by a well defined figure-ground relationship, where negative space forms a bold, semi-abstract component.
Alongside his painting pursuits, Craig Charles also established his own dance group, The Black Crow Dancers, which toured Singapore, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.
