Artist: Axel Hare
Age: 5-12 years
Story: The story behind my painting is that I am proud to be Aboriginal and so I painted my totem, Bunjil. It represents who I am. Bunjil is a sacred animal and the other animal that I really love is the kangaroo. I can’t believe how strong its tail is!
In my painting, the black represents the Aboriginal people of Australia, the yellow colour represents the sun (the giver of life), and the red represents the red earth and the Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual relation to the land.
Artist: Meisha Lee-Hooper
Age: 5-12 years
Story: My Dad’s family comes from the Horsham area so I researched Indigenous art from that area and decided to recreate a cave painting with stories that have been passed on in my family.
I love the story telling of my Aboriginal culture. Dad once told a story about the fire tree. There was a lady that went to a tree that was on fire, she stayed there a long time and ash started to fall on her. She suffocated and died but came back as a spirit. There was dirty water back then and so she cleaned the water.
Another story Dad shared with me was The Rangers and The Emu. There were once two rangers and they wanted to shoot an emu. They did and after an hour they suddenly dropped dead. The rangers were from our
Mob and we all learnt to look after the animals. I would love schools to share more stories from my culture because they have important lessons about looking after Australia.
Artist: Tsyanne Duff-Rankine
Age: 19-24 years
Story: I wanted to create a piece that shows the strength and power of the Indigenous Culture. Not only of my tribe, Ngarrindjeri, but of all of the people in every tribe from across Australia.
I wanted to have a woman in the centre, representing the country and Mother Earth. Looking out onto the red, black and yellow of our people and the patterns and colours and lines that metaphorically show the creativity, love, passion and strength of our people.
I want to dedicate this piece to my dad who passed away and for all the stories and culture he taught me, which I will teach to my children, and they will teach to theirs.
Artist: Trinity Nolan Lacco
Age: 5-12 years
Story: I chose these colours because I am Noongar, from Western Australia and we are known for our crystal blue lakes, oceans and waterways.
I used pupanya to represent my hair and some of the marine life. The face you see is my profile and symbolises my Aboriginal heritage.
Artist: Lara Taylor
Age: 5-12 years
Story:My painting represents new belongings and cleansing of our land after the fires have been. Bunjil is flying over us to let us know that he is watching over us and protecting our land.
My family and I have been talking a lot lately about how my Ancestors would have burnt the land, to help it thrive and regrow using traditional ways.
I hope that people can learn about the way we used to back burn; like I saw last time I was in the Northern Territory on our family holiday. There were little flames everywhere! But it felt really safe.
Artist: Natasha Atwell
Age: 13-18 years
Story: My art work is about the powerful and strong women in life that are Aboriginal. There are three people in my painting (my Mum, my Aunt and me).
I believe that my Aunt and my Mum are some of the most influential women in my life to today.
Artist: Tahlia Pyke
Age: 13-18years
Story: I am very proud of my culture and everything that has been handed down to me through my family, my ancestors and also my community, especially through Mullum Mullum.