Ethyn Amat: The 19-year-old Indigenous man diagnosed with autism who is taking the art world by storm

Eaton teenager Ethyn Amat’s art speaks for itself. The 19-year-old Indigenous man, who has been diagnosed with autism and is non-verbal, has spent the last two years honing his talents and has now become an award-winning artist building a name for himself in WA. Ethyn’s mother Naomi Amat said art was a vehicle to build her son’s independence through the creation of a microenterprise, with pieces selling for anywhere between $50 and $500. “We have looked at opportunities and worked on his creative skills over the last couple of years,” Ms Amat said. “We look at ways to provide him with an opportunity to share who he his, and for people to understand that just because he is non-verbal, it doesn’t mean he can’t express himself.” Through the Facebook page Ethyn Extra-Ordinary Art, the business has been able to spread awareness of Ethyn’s work. Ethyn sold his first piece of art in May, 2020, and since then has won awards across the South West, including Collie, Donnybrook and Busselton, with his talent being recognised around Australia. “It is amazing (how much it has grown), and it is not just his style and technique, it is him as a person,” Ms Amat said. “That reward when he receives an award or recognition for what he does is beyond words. “When someone comes to buy a piece and they take it and hand over money, you can see that he is quite chuffed.” Ethyn’s paintings are known for their bold and unique colour combinations, which Ms Amat said are influenced through his mood at the time of creation. “His eye for colour is phenomenal and when he puts colours together, you don’t actually expect how it is going to look,” she said. “He knows what it is going to look like when it hits the canvas, but we don’t . . . so pieces can turn out crazy and it is forever evolving. “Often we find if he is having a great day you will get a different outcome than what you would when he is not having a good day, but you still get a really cool piece. “It is like an outlet, and it changes how it looks, so you can get a really unique piece. “It is his expression of how he sees something and how it feels at the time, and you never underestimate the outcome.” Ms Amat said art had opened her son up to a world of possibilities.