Artist statement

Passing on of Culture explores heritage, particularly the imparting of knowledge and wisdom from elders to a younger generation. This installation comments on kin connection, not skin colouring. As a white-presenting person who is Indigenous Australian, I accept and embrace my identity even though I do not have dark skin. The fair-skinned baby represents me, absorbing the wisdom of the elders who face inward. The passing of knowledge are lines winding through the sand, representing the paths of water, making their way towards her. What matters is not what someone looks like on the outside, but who they are connected to spiritually and ancestrally on the inside. 

Process

Three ready-bought Indigenous plaster moulds were used to cast twelve small male Elder heads. These were coloured with oxide prior to being glazed, with individual patterns added to the Elders’ head scarves. A life-sized, ready-bought plaster mould was also cast for the baby's head and covered with Cesco Oatmeal Gloss Glaze. A crude body was fashioned using wadding in a pillow slip and tied to base of the neck. A hand-quilted blanket was swaddled and wrapped around the baby's body and tied with raw wool. Loose sand was layered on a painted timber substrate before hand-scribed patterns were added.

About the artist

As an Indigenous Australian whose ancestry dates back to Tasmania, I was inspired by Fiona Foley and her recent exhibition in Hervey Bay. Foley's passion for openly communicating her personal stories of her Butchulla people and their narratives from the past have inspired by own practice to reflect on my Indigenous heritage from Tasmania.