My name is Pearl Chaloupka, and I am a potpourri of Ballardong, Czech, British and Welsh. I was born off Country in Darwin. My father was a Czech refugee who became a rock art anthropologist. I was given the kinship totem of white cockatoo by my Aboriginal grand daddy, Nipper Kabirriki. See a bio of Nipper here. I have also been given the echidna totem by my Whadjuck Elder, Marie Taylor.

I studied a Bachelor of Visual Arts (honours) at the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University. I won the City of Bayswater's Resident's Art Prize 2024. The National Gallery houses one of my prints.

My art was influenced by watching my father paint his own art. He also photographed rock art sites and at night would project the photos onto the wall and proceed to separate out the multiple overlaid images by skillfully draughting them, each separately. I am influenced by the cross hatching (RAAK) of classical art from the top of the Northern Territory. My mother was a Ballardong woman who was an accomplished ceramicist whose work is housed in the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery.

I work with people with severe mental illness and other mental disabilities and I am a naturally empathic person. As someone who has also experienced some hardships myself, my work is an island of tranquility which I hope to impart to other people in difficult times. Each brush stroke is a meditation and tells a story of quiet, stillness and deep focus. I have recently started a YouTube channel where the creating of future works is documented via video and can be viewed here

I’d love to explore how my artwork could complement your home or workplace and incorporate cultural storytelling.