Accompanying story: 

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Athe (Grandfather) and Nene’s (Grandmother) life on their Kerriri block encapsulated living ‘sustainably’. Athe sourced water by digging his own well by hand. They built their house by hand with locally sourced and recycled materials. My grandparents and their children worked the rocky land to grow bamboo, tapioca, paw paw, sugarcane, cassava, pumpkin, yam, corn and banana on terraced gardens edged with low stone walls that were placed by hand. When there was excess produce it was sold at See Hop’s shop on TI. Athe cleverly raised the perimeter of the lagoon in the reef out front of their house with rocks to increase the chances of trapping seafood on the outgoing tide. Athe and Nene were incredibly intelligent, resourceful and resilient.

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Under the Act living sustainably for my grandparents was about survival. It supplemented their meagre income. It was not a romantic or philosophical option to grow food in a back yard during the threat of virus spread or infection.

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These artworks respond to Country, it's management and ability to sustain life. Country through material use is embedded in these four artworks. I extracted natural plant dyes from the block by hand as guided by my Mum, Aunt and Uncles who recalled the methods used by Athe (grandad). Charcoal sourced on the block from traditional land management practices were mixed with dye and ink and integrated into the work. My Uncle who now owns the block has collected material culture including rusted garden tools. I used these tools as transfers to stain the paper and tell the garden produce story.

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Exhibition: Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Where's your permit? 2021

Gallery: Tanks Art Centre, Tank 4

Curator: Janina Harding (CIAF Artistic Director) and Francoise Lane (Indij Design and artist)

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