THE PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO THIS LAND - 2014

The People Who Belong to This Land is a series of charcoal portraits that began in 2014, when I returned to drawing after spending the better part of a decade away from it. The first works were created for the exhibition Drawing on the Heroes Who Shape Us at the Adelaide Festival Centre, and grew from a simple idea — to recognise the people in our own families and communities who shape who we become.

We spend a lot of time celebrating famous people, sporting legends and celebrities, but often overlook the extraordinary people closest to us. The people who make sacrifices, overcome adversity and quietly influence the direction of our lives.

For me, those people came from both sides of my family. My Chinese grandfather, who left behind a life in China to help raise my sister and me, and members of my Ngarrindjeri/Kaurna family, including my Uncle Moogy, whose strength and personal journey have had a profound influence on those around him.

I used charcoal to explore these portraits through light and dark, building up the surface and then taking parts away. There was something in that process that connected with my own experience of growing up between Aboriginal and Chinese cultures, trying to understand where I belonged, where I came from, and the people and histories that had shaped me.

Over time, the series expanded beyond the original exhibition and became The People Who Belong to This Land. Looking back, these drawings established many of the ideas that continue through my practice today — family, identity, history, cultural inheritance and the importance of telling our own stories.

At its heart, the series is about recognising the people who came before us, the people who stand beside us, and the connections to family, culture and Country that tell us who we are.