My creative practice takes place on the lands of the Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri Woiwurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, their ancestors and families, acknowledging their deep and ongoing spiritual connection to Country. I extend my respects to Wathaurong Waddawurrung peoples, whose lands I was birthed and raised upon that have deeply shaped me and my experiences.

I acknowledge Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri custodianship of the lands, waterways and skies that I continue to live, work and benefit from, recognising that sovereignty was never ceded. I come with an intention to deepen my understanding of ancestral pathways as a diasporic being, while sharing, learning and creating on unceded lands (Melbourne, Australia).

I extend this acknowledgement and pay my respects to peer African and Indigenous peoples across the globe viewing this website.

Deny / Denial / Denied - Blak Dot Gallery

Blak Dot Gallery, Wurundjeri Country - Brunswick
,
3 - 20 Aug 2017

Deny / Denial / Denied is a collection of new work produced during a studio residency at Assemblage, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Comprising of serigraph prints, textiles, and video works, the exhibition considers and explores notions of denial and being denied, particularly within a South African “Coloured” context both pre and post Apartheid. The exhibition reflects upon historical practices of Apartheid South Africa – its methodologies of classification, the people of District Six (and forced removals), as well as the artists' personal relationship to these histories.

"Drawing often from experiences of 'identity cross examination' as a primary source of research, I employ Afrikaans, colonial language and terms such as Coloured, appropriated as Coloured™ in my work as a platform for discussing the complexities of African identity.

These practices for me, act as a navigation tool through a complex field of rejection and reclamation of language, to find and ascertain empowering forms of self-determination and positive representation of African identity."

This project was supported by the Australia Council for the Arts ArtStart program and by the Sainsbury Sculpture Grant, established in memory of the late Madeline Olive Taylor through her estate and administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).

Photo's by Jorge de Araujo.

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