Joanna Tucker, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Wallaroo artist Debbie Seater is branching out into horror movies.

The reigning Kernewek Lowender Art Prize winner has supplied works for a new film by director Simon Tait, which is being produced in Adelaide and is slated for international release.

Ms Seater says her artworks move beyond surface level portrayals, focusing on more subconscious levels of expression.

“We’ve got to suspend our disbelief in that regard and go that one step further into artistic endeavours,” Ms Seater says.

“It’s not just the surface, but it’s the actual dialogue that a piece can portray to you.

“Within my art, I don’t know where it comes from, which is always exciting,” she says.

“It’s like tapping into the inner self.”

Ms Seater likes to produce mixed media works.

“You can bury words, you can find a found object and paint on top of that, and allow those layers to come through,” she says.

“I find that intriguing.”

Ms Seater regularly displays her artwork across the Copper Coast, the Barossa, and interstate, and hopes to one day open up her studio to the public as a gallery.

“I have two pieces in the Moonta Gallery of the Arts for the SALA exhibition currently, and I’ve entered into the FLAME Festival exhibitions in the past.” 

Ms Seater is also about to publish her third colouring book.

She says winning the Kernewek Lowender prize was a highlight.

“That was a big deal for me, especially as around here is very traditional, so I was blown away,” Ms Seater says.

Horror film director Mr Tait will use multiple artworks by Ms Seater in his film, as well as some of her larger canvases as background props.

Ms Seater’s partner Shaun Crowley says the film is “pretty crazy.”

“(The lead actor) paints when she is in a trance, and when she wakes up, she wonders what has happened,” Mr Crowley says.

This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 6 August 2024.