2008 Update

2008 is nearly gone, and what a busy six months it has been since I last wrote on my Blogg. I am coming to the end of second semester year 2 of my degree at Griffith University South Bank. The longer I am here the easier it becomes. Exams and final assignments are paramount at present, so everything else has to just wait. Only one more year to go to complete my course.

Celebrating Mr Rudd’s Apology to all first Australians
When he delivered the national apology on Wednesday 13th February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also promised practical measures to improve Indigenous lives. There is now debate over what the priorities should be when there are so many areas of disadvantage and dysfunction in Australia's Indigenous communities.
When Mr Rudd addressed Federal Parliament, he said the symbolism of reconciliation needed to be accompanied by substance - the practical measures that will hopefully improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.
Among the targets mentioned were halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians when it comes to literacy, numeracy, and employment opportunities, closing the 17-year life expectancy gap and reducing infant mortality rates. The question now being raised is where a good starting point to achieve some of these targets might be.
Tamara Mackean, the president of the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association, is optimistic that a bipartisan approach will make a difference.” I think an approach that seeks to just get on with the business is going to be the key to moving things forward." my way to move things forward was to capture this moment on canvas for all Indigenous Australians.
The apology overwhelmed my family and me. The apology meant that the injustices were acknowledged; it was the finest thing that could happen to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples and personally for our family. As an artist I have expressed my feelings on behalf of all first Australians living and those who have passed on. Drawing on the diverse lineages of cultural history and tradition across Australia I considered Parliament House as an important setting for the transformation of attitudes, fostering new dialogues, new engagements and new social and cultural milieus.
This piece of work ‘The Apology’ is conceptually rigorous, with consideration from the desert to the coast, living and past first Australians and evokes communal celebration. It is a balanced piece of artwork where I have taken white symbolism and integrated it with Indigenous symbols. I have incorporated my traditional lands iconic Gulaga Mountain and the most noted icon in Australia, Uluru, in respect for the desert people.

‘To just get on with business’ is a partnership I have established with the Heart Foundation. This celebration painting ‘The Apology’ was specifically painted for the Heart Foundation’s second East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition to be held at the State Library of Queensland from Tuesday 7th October to 14th October 2008. Funds raised through the sale of artwork will go exclusively towards funding a Heart Foundation Research Grant to improve the heart health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Six other well known East Coast Aboriginal Artists will contribute outstanding art work to this most worthy cause; Laurie Nilsen, Jennifer Herd, my beautiful daughter Raquel Jackson, Deb Taylor, Peter Mulcahy and Bianca Beetson. All work on display will be for sale and each artist will donate a commission of 25% from each piece sold. There will be a special Art Auction held during the Exhibition Cocktail Party on Friday 10th October. Each artist has donated a piece of artwork with all proceeds of the Auction going to the Heart Foundation.
The Heart Foundation saves lives and improves health through funding world-class cardiovascular research, guidelines for health professionals, informing the public and assisting people with cardiovascular disease. As a charity, the Heart Foundation relies on donations and gifts in wills to continue its lifesaving research, education and health promotion work.
The apology, and the Heart Foundation give a very meaningful purpose to the work I am doing, and is my way of ‘just getting on with business’, reinforcing the statement made by Mr Rudd ‘the symbolism of reconciliation needed to be accompanied by substance’.

I have posted this piece of work on the web site for all to see.

My next series of paintings
I am currently working on a new series of work called “On the Surface”
‘What does it mean to truly understand another person? I believe it is through empathy, the process by which we take the place of another, near or far, known or unknown. Empathy bridges the distance between human experiences, (Black and White) binding us to another in deeply personal ways that reflect our potential for shared experience and compassion. It is with this understanding that I will commit paint to canvas to develop my new series called ‘On the Surface’ it is my aim to have this series completed for my next major exhibition in 2009.

Undurba 30th Anniversary
I have spent the last couple of months working with Marilyn Carson - Undurba Indigenous Liaison Teacher and 75 Indigenous and Non Indigenous Children from Prep to Year 7 in preparation for the schools 30th Anniversary Celebrations. The children have painted their special message on canvas to be exhibited on the day.
It has been an interesting and rewarding exercise for me. There are 17 Aboriginal Children and 58 non Aboriginal Children taking part in the "Thank the Community Art Program". The Aboriginal children have learnt about culture, Aboriginal Art technics and protocols, and the non-Indigenous children have learnt understanding of Aboriginal culture and to have more tolerance through this understanding. The 58 non-indigenous children were chosen because of their artistic ability. The program has been so successful for the children, the Indigenous Liaison Officer Marilyn Carson, is trying to find funding to have an ongoing cultural program in the school for 2009. I have loved working with the children; the outcome has just been fabulous, with a couple of the children destined for bigger and better things with their art ability.


My exhibition at the State Library- 2008 Heart Foundation East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition.

The Art Exhibition which celebrates the strength, tenacity and generosity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders communities in taking a stand to join the fight against heart disease.
The Heart Foundation believes that by making real improvements in Indigenous heart health, Queensland can go a long way to closing the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This year there were 6 other artists involved Raquel Jackson, Bianca Beetson, Jennifer Herd, Laurie Nilsen, Deb Taylor and Peter Mulcahy. There was a great selection of art on display and for sale; it just keeps getting better each year. Read the review by noted art writer Timothy Morrell on my web site under what’s new on the home page.