WALA-GAAY
THE LEFT FIELD PROJECT 2
FIRE STATION ARTS CENTRE DUBBO
CONTENTS
MENTOR ARTISTS
BLAK Douglas
JONATHON Jones
CHICO Monks
NICOLE Monks
JASON Wing
CO-CURATORS
KHALED Sabsabi
EMILY McDaniel
EMERGING ARTISTS
ALESHIA Lonsdale
ALEX Nixon
DYLAN Goolagong
JASON Russell
PARIS Norton
ROBERT Salt
ORANA ARTS
ALICIA Leggett
Executive Officer
MICHELLE Hall
Project Manager
ALEX Wisser
Photographer
Cover artwork: Aleshia Lonsdale
Artwork this page: Paris Norton
EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
Alicia Leggett
In 2012 Orana Arts auspiced the
inaugural Cementa Contemporary Arts
Festival in Kandos, NSW. The festival
saw over 1,500 people from across
the state descend on the small town
to experience contemporary arts in a
regional context. What was apparent
to us after the event was the missing
voice of Aboriginal artists from the
region.
From our initial discussions we
identified a need for our artists to take
a journey and explore contemporary
elements in their arts practice.
The first Left Field Project (LFP)
was funded through Department of
Regional Australia, Local Government,
Arts and Sport-Office for the Arts under
the Indigenous Culture Support. With
the initial support from the Federal
Government we identified four mentors:
Karla Dickens, Blak Douglas (aka
Adam Hill), Jason Wing and R E A and
four Orana artists: Dylan Goolagong,
Aleshia Lonsdale, Sandra Peckham
and Paris Norton, took the initial journey
with us.
The strongest element resulting from the
mentoring exchange was the challenge
an artist faces when they explore topics
that are deemed controversial and
hence the preparation that they must
assume as the makers of the work.
Our artists found the exchange both
challenging and rewarding through
the shared process of creating and
developing work for the final exhibition.
The final pieces where so significant
that several artists initiated other
opportunities with the new work.
You never really know the outcome of
a project until its final elements are in
place and once we all realised how well
received and how committed everyone
one was to explore a further dimension
to the creative process we sought new
partnerships and new audiences for
our artists. Orana Arts was successful
with Arts NSW funding under regional
partnership and worked with Blacktown
Arts Centre and Casula Powerhouse
to extend the conversations of our
artists. Three of the original left fielders
continued the journey, with the addition
of eight others who took themselves
outside of their comfort zone and
explored identity, culture and their
artistic practice through various camps.
What is now being presented with
Wala-gaay is the evolution of trust,
conversations and a belief that
our artists have unique stories and
experiences that must be shared
in a broader context. We hope we
have inspired them to continue that
exploration.
MENTOR
ARTISTS
Blak Douglas
My involvement in Left Field has been
immeasurably rewarding on many levels.
Firstly, just to spend quality artistic time
on Thubbagah Country, the birthplace
of my late Father ‘Bob Hill’ brings back
many a nostalgic moment. But most
importantly is being immersed into a
bonafide grass roots art movement.
One that is fresh and free and revelling
within it’s own historic first. As a guest
mentor working with the immense talents
of Country artists from far and wide, we
ALL become mentors to each other. For
this reason alone, I thank all involved
for extending the invitation for my
involvement.
Jonathon Jones
It’s been an honour working with the Left
of Field artists and being able to spend
time inspiring and being inspired. Many
artists and elders have supported my
practice and it’s good to be able to give
that support back. While separated by
distance from the ‘centre’, all the artists
are talented and creative practitioners.
Each is creating powerful works that are
deeply personal and connected to their
country and culture.
Chico Monks
Mentor or mentee, the role often
flips during the Left Field Project,
this knowledge transfer remains an
empowering experience and is a great
reminder of the diversity and similarities
within contemporary Aboriginal lives.
The Left Field artists reflect on their
experiences; we as mentors guide their
pathway. It is a pleasure to be involved in
these personal journeys.
Nicole Monks
The Left Field Project is more than an
arts program, it creates true connections
and a platform for continuing our cultural
practices. This project has supported
and expanded networks between urban
with regional NSW artists to organically
create our own arts community; growing
and developing our practices together.
The lived experience of Left Field is
helping shape the NSW Aboriginal arts
community.
Jason Wing
The Left Field Project 2 is a visionary,
essential, critical, holistic, longterm and
ongoing mentorship program, which has
significantly increased the quality and
professionalism of contemporary artists
in regional Australia. The rapid holistic
development and empowerment of the
artist is a result of two way learning and
sharing from some of Australia’s most
celebrated International Aboriginal artists
and curators. I wish that I had received
such a valuable boost to my career as
an emerging artist that the LFP2 has
provided over several years.
Artwork: Robert Salt
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
- cultural facility of Liverpool
City Council, is thrilled and
honoured to be part of the 2016
edition of the Left Field Project
2, developed and realised by
Orana Arts. Casula Powerhouse
has an ongoing commitment
to the development and
appreciation of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander
culture, providing recognition
of our local Aboriginal arts
and cultural practice through
significant past, present and
future programming.
The Orana Arts vision and
ethic is built on establishing
active relationships with and
for Aboriginal communities in
regional NSW, an outstanding
positive model for finding
ways to work with the local
communities on their own terms
and with their own stories.
Left Field Project 2 is a
pioneering project, built on
rigorous community cultural
development methods. The
project’s approach and process
has been an open one, with
artist development critical to
the project’s final outcome making the modelling for this
project a significant structure
for applicable contemporary
Australian cultural production.
Left Field Project 2 mentorships
were key components in
building the project’s dynamics,
based on sharing knowledge
and experiences across
the program. From the very
beginning, the project aimed
to vigorously engage artists
in processes and practices
associated with autonomy,
personal and professional
development through the
power of art making and
presenting. The artists
committed themselves to a
demanding process, which
included ‘one on one’ artist and
mentor development support,
laboratories, travel to Casula
Powerhouse Arts Centre as
well as experimentation and
investigation into finding and
expressing their own visual
voice. The integrity of the
project’s process is reflected
in the artist’s final expressions
and outcomes, which continue
discussions about Australian
creative expressions and the
richness of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander culture.
The visual arts exhibition titled
Wala-gaay is the exhibition
outcome that brings together six
artists and their works, worthy
of national notability. Walagaay is a landmark exhibition
that provides an authoritative
occasion for audiences to
reflect on contemporary
Australian culture, identity
and self-expression. Casula
Powerhouse Arts Centre and
Orana Arts acknowledges
the participation, efforts and
generosity of the lead mentor
artists, curators, community
and cultural advisers and
thanks them for their guidance,
goodwill and thoughts, as you
are all crucial in making Left
Field Project 2 happen.
Nikita Karvounis
Acting Director
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Khaled Sabsabi
LFP2 co-curator and
creative producer
CO-CURATOR
Khaled Sabsabi
Artwork: Alex Nixon
CO-CURATOR
Emily McDaniel
Wala-gaay is a collection of new
works produced by participating artists of the
2016 Left Field Project, coordinated by Orana
Arts. Wala-gaay in the Wiradjuri language
refers to the bare part of the tree where bark
has been stripped off, this is a process that
displays vulnerability, but it is done so in an
act of courage. Each artist has undertaken a
significant departure from his or her long held
creative practices and identities as an artist.
In doing so, they have established a new
visual language that expresses their unique
perspective of history, culture and identity.
Artist Aleshia Lonsdale plays upon
symbolic dualities of the materials that she
manipulates, resulting in a subtle questioning
of the way we respond to objects. For
this exhibition she produced a series of
three works that engage with identity and
sustainability.
Future Forests highlights primary global
commodities and the detrimental effects they
have had on the environment. Champagne
glasses are filled with soy, palm oil, beef
and wood as a short-lived celebration of
man’s achievements, however the artist turns
our attention to sustainability and reminds
us that we cannot ‘live for the moment’ for
long. Exposed presents numerous delicate
root systems, slightly turned upward and
seemingly defying gravity. Aleshia was drawn
to the aesthetic and familial interpretation of
root systems. She muses that although our
origins and ancestral connections to culture
ground us, they are not the sole defining
aspect of our identities as Aboriginal people,
rather, it is our experiences of living into our
identity that defines us. Aleshia’s presentation
of Renewal draws the connection between
the human body and the aged scribbly gum
trees marked with scars as traces of the past.
Our Girls by Paris Norton is the result
of a timely commitment to creating each
individual form, representing the nameless
young girls that were forcibly removed from
their families from 1910 and onwards. The
artist selected and stripped paperbark
lengths from locations near and around
Coonabarabran. Each paperbark form is
unique in colour, shape and thickness. The
fragile nature of the material resulted in a
delicate and meticulous cutting process.
Select pieces were hand stamped in a mark
of the artist’s own conception, a circle nestled
with a circle, seemingly representative of the
vulnerable crown of a young child’s head.
In ‘spending time’ with each object, she
addressed and considered the loss of each
child that was forced in servitude. Our Girls
reflects Norton’s current experience and
contemplations surrounding the relationship
between mother and child.
Our carved trees were created to demarcate
sites of significance and ceremony; our
canoe and shield trees record and preserve
our actions. Taken from Country by Jason
Russell remembers the violent onslaught
of the colonial frontline as it swept across
New South Wales, this work responds to the
chilling words of Governor Lachlan Macquarie
in 1819 as he ordered his men to dispatch:
‘All Aborigines from Sydney onwards are to
be made prisoners of war and if they resist
they are to be shot and their bodies hung
from trees in the most conspicuous places
near where they fall, so as to strike terror into
the hearts of the surviving natives’. Through
the words of Macquarie, our trees were no
longer able to protect and shield us, they
were deemed to become a pillar for our
lynching. The absence of the human body
in the installation forces us to consider the
weight of the neck braces, the restriction
of the chains and the fear of the imposing
authorities in relation to our own body. In a
contemporary context we can reflect on the
detrimental effects of incarceration for the
individual, family and community.
Similarly, The Requiem of Life in
Circular by Robert Salt reflects on the
cultural and familial obligations, translating
this responsibility into a physical action.
The artist interpreted the form of a tree as a
personal diagram of the many connections
he maintains. There is a defined sense of
resilience in the way he marches on, despite
the resistance of the objects that drag behind
him under relentless surveillance of a white
cross. There is a timelessness of the image
that incessantly repeated, creates an endless
cycle of déjà vu. The monochrome video
with inflections of intense colour symbolises
the artist’s obscured perspective of the
future, the artist quotes that ‘Life is not clearly
defined in black and white’.
Locked Up memorialises our cultural
objects that are held within the collections
of cultural institutions, nationally and
internationally. Hand carved tree trunks are
placed within the lockers, interspersed by
white crosses, drawing similarities between
the cultural significance and reverence of
both forms. This installation engages with
the questionable and, at times, unethical
acquisition of early objects from the southeast of Australia and the contemporary
barriers for community access to these
cultural objects. Locked Up is a powerful
assertion of the artist’s Wiradjuri and Maori
practices of carving. Dylan Goolagong is also
an emerging songwriter and to accompany
the installation he has composed and written
a song that calls out to our objects held in
collections and questions their keepers.
Unseen by Alex Nixon questions the
cultural, social and historical recognition
of Indigenous culture and connection to
country. During the development of the
project, the artist would walk to a secluded
bushland and set to work on creating a
shelter from surrounding materials. His
commitment to experimentation has resulted
in a work that far deviates from his previous
artistic practice of representation painting.
Unseen draws attention to the invisibility,
mutability and marginalisation of Indigenous
peoples. It can also be perceived as an act
of protest, reminding us that regardless of the
layers of concrete and bitumen poured, and
despite the buildings that are constructed
– each place, every place, will remain as
Aboriginal land.
Artwork: Aleshia Lonsdale
Exposed 2016
roots, fish hooks
Our roots – our family origins and connections
to Country are important and grounding and
give us a strong sense of place and identity
however they are not the sum total of us
as Aboriginal people. Whilst our roots are
grounding they are not the only thing that
defines us. It is our lived experience as
Aboriginal people, cultural knowledge
and identity which all shape who we are.
Renewal 2016 (cover photo)
fabric, coffee, ink, bark
When we go through the process of change
and gain a new sense of hope we need to
remember to proudly wear the marks of our
past – whether that be physical, emotional or
mental. They are part of our history and identity
and there is beauty in the scars of old wounds
which we bear.
Future Forests 2016
soy, beef, palm oil, wood, earth, glass
We lose forests at a rate of 48 football fields
per minute worldwide to make way for four
main commodity sectors – soy, palm oil, beef
and wood products. Deforestation has resulted
in the loss of nearly half the world’s original
forests despite the fact that they purify the air
we breathe, filter the water we drink, prevent
erosion, and act as an important shield against
climate change. If this continues what is the
legacy that we will leave for future generations?
Aleshia Lonsdale is a visual
artist based in Mudgee in
regional New South Wales.
She began her practice as a
painter and weaver and has
since expanded her practice
to incorporate sculptural and
installation work. She draws
inspiration from contemporary
issues facing Aboriginal people
such as identity, family and
self-representation. Employing
everyday objects and materials,
Lonsdale creates works that
reflect the cultural values
and traditions of her people
and works which challenge
audiences and highlight
contemporary issues of today.
In 2016 she participated in a
solo exhibition titled DhuuluuYala (Talk Straight) at the
Western Plains Cultural Centre
in Dubbo, highlighting the high
rate of removal of Aboriginal
children from their families and
communities. This is the second
time Aleshia has participated in
the Left Field program, during
which she has developed a
cohesive body of work that
extends her practice and draws
on the themes of identity and
sustainability.
ALESHIA
LONSDALE
Wiradjuri, lives and works in Mudgee,
New South Wales
ALEX
NIXON
Gamilaraay, lives and works
in Coonabarabran,
New South Wales
Unseen 2016
Wood
I built this humpy to symbolise
how invisible Aboriginal culture
is in today’s society. I built this
humpy with all natural materials to
represent my culture. The images
reflect how society has developed
without our people or our culture.
We are still weathering the odds
to be treated equal, which is why
I selected the bank, the jail and
the shopping strip: the places
where our cultural practice and
protocols are absent. We are
invisible despite being inventors
and innovators. The most inspiring
things to me throughout this whole
process are finding out more
about the Aboriginal heritage,
my own cultural background and
how Aboriginal people were so
innovative in creating structures
and objects, some of which are
being used daily in society without
people even knowing our mob
invented that.
Aboriginal culture, in particular
Gamiliaraay culture, has been a
significant source of inspiration
for Alex Nixon. His practice
strongly engages with his local
community of Coonabarabran, a
town in the central west of New
South Wales, bordered by the
dramatic landscapes of the Pilliga
Forest and the Warumbungle
National Park.
He recently donated works
to the Burrabeedee Sand
Goannas football club, the
Aboriginal Lands Council with
the assistance of fellow Left
Field Project artist Jason Russell,
and the Coonabarabran Police
Department. He is currently
undertaking a project for the
Palliative Care for People to
help raise funds to establish
a centre in the town. During
the development of the Left
Field Project, Alex undertook a
significant departure from his
painting practice to explore new
mediums of photography and
sculptural installation.
DYLAN
GOOLAGONG
Wiradjuri, lives and works in Dubbo, New South Wales
Locked Up 2016
metal lockers, wood
I’m trying to find
A reason why you would steal
And then try to lie.
It’s for the greater good, that’s what you said
But how could it be when my people have bled.
You took a piece, now it’s gone
How could you do something so wrong?
You think it’s been the right thing all along
In two I feel like I have been torn
I’m here feeling like I have been cut
But to you my pain is not enough
To burn the things I have learnt
To take the things I have earned
Why would you do it to me?
When you wouldn’t do it to your own family
Why would you take down the trees?
Locked away for no one to see
I’m locked away, from memories
I’m locked away, from the light of day
What if I took your father’s stone?
What if I desecrated your home?
What if I left you on your own?
To live the horrors my people have known
Even when you take, it’s not enough
Because the empty is carved into my family’s blood
The things you did, still left a scar
You didn’t care enough to know who we are.
Dylan Goolagong is a
contemporary artist from
Dubbo NSW. With a
background of music and
graphic design, he has
participated in various
community projects such as
local murals and metal work
installations. He creates
graphic carved objects
that reflect the history,
techniques and designs
of his Maori and Wiradjuri
heritage. In 2013 – 2015 he
contributed to the Carved
Up Collective, an initiative
of Orana Arts that explored
contemporary design and
traditional carving skills.
Locked Up integrates two
of Dylan’s primary practices
– carving and songwriting,
he will accompany his
installation with a new lyrical
composition that articulates
the personal loss he feels
in response to carved
cultural objects in museum
collections.
PARIS
NORTON
Gamilaroi, lives and works
in Dubbo, New South Wales
Our Girls 2016
paperbark, ink
In 1915 an amendment to the
Aborigines Protection Act gave the
Aboriginal Protection Board the
legal sanction to forcibly remove
any Aboriginal child without parental
consent and without a court order.
Aboriginal girls were sent to homes
established by the Board to be trained
for a life of domestic servitude. These
children, like ghosts, were gone without
a trace. It is unknown how many
Aboriginal children were taken away
due to poor record keeping, the loss
and destruction of records and the
ignorance of authorities. Our Girls is a
representation of the young women who
were victims of this system and left absent
from records and memory. This is an
opportunity for these girls to be showered
in the warmth of love, kindness, beauty,
respect and recognition; something they
went without for a lifetime.
Paris Norton is a Gamilaroi woman with
Irish and Maori heritage, living on Wiradjuri
country in Dubbo NSW. Norton’s work
is a visual response to the emotions
surrounding her cultural identity and its
relationship to contemporary Australia,
utilising photography and found materials.
In 2012 Norton held her first solo exhibition
in Baradine, NSW, with works exploring
the connections between people and
place. She has won prizes in the Outback
Archies, Art Unlimited and participated in
the 2013 Left Field Project with Orana Arts.
She returned to the project in 2016 as an
alumnus to further develop her creative
practice. In 2017 Norton will exhibit her
work in Walan Yinaagirbang – Strong
Women at Firstdraft Gallery in Sydney
and Cementa Festival in Kandos and
will hold solo exhibition at the Western
Plains Cultural Centre as a part of the
Homeground program.
JASON
RUSSELL
Worimi, lives and works in
Coonabarabran,
New South Wales
Taken from Country 2016
saddle, bridle, metal chain,
steel neck braces
I found these orders when researching another project in early 2016. When
I got involved with the Left Field Project I was asked by another artist ‘What
really gets your back up?’ and I responded with this quote.
‘All Aborigines from Sydney onwards are to be made prisoners of war and
if they resist they are to be shot and their bodies hung from trees in the
most conspicuous places near where they fall, so as to strike terror into
the hearts of the surviving natives’ by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, 1816.’
At that moment the idea for this artwork came to me and I started work on
it straightaway. I handmade all three neck collars based on my own body
and wore with chains attached, each collar is hung at a different height so
people can get the feeling of wearing it themselves by standing at whichever
one is their height.
Jason Russell is an established artist and has maintained a consistent
painting practice for over fifteen years, while also producing carved cultural
objects and sculptures. He has previously lived in Newcastle and the Gold
Coast, but now calls Coonabarabran home with his partner Kerrie and
their four children. His artistic practice is also an educational practice; he
regularly engages with schools and correctional service groups to share
his life-changing experience of creating art. Jason’s participation in the
Left Field Project results in a bold departure from his commercial painting
practice to a conceptual installation based practice. He engages with
uncomfortable and challenging events and circumstances throughout
Australian History. He highlights these issues and provides commentary
on them in regard to contemporary affairs.
This artwork is a symbolism of the
life and the obligations that we
have from the moment we are born,
until the moment of our death. The
obscurity and darkness of the image
is intentional with the aim of making
the viewer really concentrate on what
is occurring. It is also reflective of my
life and how I feel there is no clear
perspective on what is happening.
Life is not clearly defined in black and
white.
Born in Brewarrina, Robert has
cultural connections to the Muruwari,
Kunja, Wiradjuri nations on his
ROBERT
SALT
Muruwari, Kunja and Wiradjuri
lives and works in Dubbo,
New South Wales
The Requiem of Life in Circular 2016
digital video, 4 minutes 53 secs
mother’s side and French and
English ancestry on his father’s
side. He received formal art training
in high school and since then has
been predominately self-taught.
Through his practice he is learning
about Indigenous art from regional
New South Wales and is influenced
by the work of Lin Onus, Trevor
Nickolls, Bronwyn Bancroft and
Arone Meeks. Robert’s artistic
practice is a commentary on social
issues. Robert is currently exploring a
range of mediums such as painting,
photography, sculpture, text and
video.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rachel Williams
PRINTED BY Print Storm, Mudgee
Artwork: Jason Russell (forground) and Dylan Goolagong (background)
WALA-GAAY