I was excited to have another of my pieces selected for the Mid West Art Awards this year which opens at the Geraldton Regional Gallery on March 3rd (wish me luck!):

Mitiji (white woman), acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120cm  - I grew up in a little Aboriginal community on the edge of the desert and this painting was completed alongside a fellow Martu artist from Wiluna. We sat down in the red dirt together, it was 40°C, our canvases and bodies moved with the shifting shade. Outwardly, and oddly, this painting was inspired by doilies: that delicate kitsch nonsense of white women. But inwardly my work evokes the intimate relationships and intricate patterns inherent in place. My work collapses space as if the landscape itself was not something of estrangement and distance but something of tactility and imminence. My style is drawn from an emerging Australian-Asian cultural exchange and speaks a new visual language of belonging and connection.

It was a great way to kick off the working year by flying up to Port Hedland for the week and catching up with my old friends the Spinifex Hill Artists. I love seeing the amazing work they have been getting up to – it’s hard to believe some of them only began painting a few years ago and before then had never even picked up a paintbrush! This week we had the privilege of workshopping with some designers from UAP (Urban Art Projects) from Brisbane – translating their work from 2D to 3D for some public art project opportunities around town. The artists came up with some fantastic ideas – can’t wait to see the finished products – watch this space!

I recently painted this piece for my brothers 30th birthday entitled “Waves of Grace”. It was a bit of a challenge for me to move away from my usual ultra feminine style and also to paint a familiar scene (the ocean) in a unique way – but I was really pleased with how it turned out which served as a reminder to me that it’s good to get out of your comfort zone every now and then and to see what you can create!

This last week at Ululla (no I’m pretty sure this location won’t show up on google maps) I have set myself up a studio in an old ‘donga’ (WA slang for transportable unit) to do some painting. Sitting listening to my music and busily involved in painting, I feel like I could almost be anywhere in the world – until I look out the window and see surrounds of red dirt and mulga, or the occasional car load of people from Wiluna turning up to sell my dad some native seeds. I love it when they come into my studio for a look – already a few of the women have said they’ll come and join me and sit down and do some painting later – but for now they are busy making money picking seeds. It has just started to get hot this week – although in the afternoons some unusual and beautiful thunderstorms have been rolling in… Just when the heat seems to really kick in, comes the welcome gusts of wind, sounds of lightning overhead and smell of rain – just gorgeous! Yesterday felt particularly hot – and our ‘pool’ (an old water tank) needs to be cleaned out – so Kim was kind and ran me a cool bath outside under the shade of a tree. It was so beautiful to sit in there and soak while watching sworms of zebra finches, pink and grey galahs, bower birds and bronze winged pigeons drinking from a trough a few metres away… I have a feeling some of my new pieces will be Australian inspired from this experience…

I have been lucky enough to spend the last few months at Ululla – a remote Aboriginal community 70km south west of Wiluna, outback Western Australia. It’s been great to be back home with my Martu family – and my Dad (I’m in Geraldton this week – and heading back to Ululla soon – just in time for a nice hot Christmas). My days have been spent picking native seeds which we sell for rehabilitation purposes – as well as catching up on some well needed painting, in preparation for my FORM solo show in their King Street Gallery next year. Pictured here is baby Frank – proudly showing off some local bush tucker – Cogla, a type of native fruit.

 

The first two weeks of September I was very privileged to work with the traditional owners of the Pannawonica area – the Kuruma Marthudunera – people on a mural to be displayed in their community. While I was there I was taken to Pannawonica Hill and told the story of how the hill came to be there – which we then used in our mural.

Originally this hill had a twin far out at sea and back in the dreamtime, two Kuruma men decided to turn themselves into birds and go and steal that hill. From the air you can still see the landmarks of where the men dragged the hill to where it proudly stands today.

In this picture you can see the hill in the middle of the mural, with the dreamtime story told around the top half and the children’s handprints around the outside. I just had such a fantastic experience up there – a big thanks to Tuesday Lockyer and her family for showing me around their countryside, taking me fishing, teaching me their local bush medicine, sharing their stories with me and feeding me the best damper dumplings and kangaroo stew cooked over the fire I have ever tasted!!! I’ll be sure to post some pics of the mural once it get’s installed.

Emma and Kevin Hutton – old High School friends of mine (who incidently have kept some of the old drawings I did in our art class) comissioned me recently to do two Australian style paintings for their children Matilda and Jarrah. The challenge was to come up with paintings which would look great in a kids bedroom – but which they could also grow up with (that’s if their Mum and Dad don’t decide to keep them in the meantime!) Here’s some cute pics of the kids with one of the pieces.

 

 

I was very honoured to have won my first big art award this year – “Best work by a non Indigenous Artist” at the Port Hedland Art Awards! Needless to say I was suprised, shocked and excited all at once. A big thanks to Allison from Yamiji Arts for screaming when it was announced – very fun.

It was such an amazing night with perfect Port Hedland evening weather and a huge crowd – with around 500 people turning up. There were so many amazing entries this year, the quality of the works just seems to be getting better every year. The overall winner of the night was Jill Churnside with her piece “1946 Pilbara Strike” – a big story captured in an amazingly beautiful piece. I really enjoyed meeting Jill on the night – and discussing possible future projects we may be involved in together – watch this space!

And here is my winning piece – “Milling at Millstream”.  The judges comments to me were “The painting of Millstream has a highly skilled elegance, with a well balanced composition and the delicacy of the detailed patterns”

To read a full review of my work and the Awards night written by Professor Dr Darren Jorgenson in the West Australian Newspaper click here:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/10191763/review-hedland-art-awards/

Greenough Regional Prison is an unlikely home to a gifted group of Aboriginal artists hailing from communities with a strong heritage in painting throughout regional Western Australia.  Let the country come in exhibits the results of an artist development program delivered inside the prison over 18 months which saw the artists (who cannot be named by law) led through ongoing workshops with myself mentoring them through the process.

The program is facilitated by FORM, a Western Australian not-for-profit cultural organisation and supported by the Department of Corrective Services. Running since the beginning of 2009, the program is a response to research showing that prison arts programs increase the likelihood of prisoner rehabilitation and enhance self-esteem by reorienting offenders and empowering them to make strong choices for their futures in preparation for release and once they are outside prison.

The program also works with the knowledge that for many remote and regional Aboriginal people, art enables access to independent incomes and economic choices, while creating a space where people from different language groups and cultural traditions interact and share.

A very close friend of mine – Donna Heart – invited me to open her very first solo exhibition “Unfurl” at the Geraldton ACDC Gallery earlier this year. The exhibition was a tremendous success with a record breaking crowd turning up and Donna selling most of her works on the opening night – a collection of paintings, prints and custom made jewellery. She has a great website which she regularly updates – I would encourage you to go check it out here:

www.donnaheart.com