You’ve Had Your Turn, Now it’s MINE

Shown in TELL as part of Ballarat International Poto Festival(2017) and Sydney Festival (2018)

An experience can define a particular moment within your whole life. There are times when an experience can alter the direction of someone’s life. How do you ignore this moment? How can you ignore the past? Brushing it under the white carpet won’t change anything. This series for me deploys photography as a visual narrative where I can share and reflect on my experiences as an Aboriginal woman in contemporary urban Australia. For me this particular body of work is a biographical photographic sequence that examines social and political issues relevant to contemporary times in relation to society’s ideologies surrounding Aboriginal people. By utilizing photography and sculpture I aim to examine these ideas cast upon Aboriginal people across the nation, I am reclaiming our identity through my work. I want to take back the ownership of our culture and history, to put a stop to white Australia’s perceptions about our culture. Why should I be constantly questioned about my cultural identity? How is this fair? Do I have to spend the rest of my life explaining my heritage and why I look like this. Would you want to do that? Are you full Australian? Or ¼, or half?