Artist reworks the classics to include Aboriginal women
An Indigenous artist is reclaiming her heritage by reworking famous artworks to include Aboriginal women.
Brandi Salmon, a Wiradjuri artist from Hobart, was first inspired to attempt these reimaginings after viewing numerous artworks about Aboriginal people that were created by non-Indigenous artists and that portrayed Aboriginal people in a negative light – in particular a 19th-century painting that depicts an Aboriginal person as a servant waiting in the presence of Captain James Cook.
These negative depictions then led to the creation of a series of works celebrating Aboriginal people titled The Aunty Collection, which includes five famous paintings that feature Aboriginal women, often in regal positions and as the focal point of the artwork.
After discovering her love of art as a child, Aboriginal presence in art became a focus when Ms Salmon attended university, where she studied creative arts.
“A lot of the paintings I came across were paintings of Aboriginal people as servants," she told the ABC.
“What you see in a lot of paintings from those periods is a style of art which depicts Aboriginal people in such a way that justifies the colonial project," said Tiriki Onus, head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne.
"You will see Aboriginal people depicted in this almost animal-like, grotesque fashion that is indicative of a certain time period and romanticises invasion.”
When Brandi first started The Aunty Collection for a university assignment, it evolved further than she ever imagined it would.
"I wasn't taught how to do the traditional painting and I felt like I couldn't do it. I felt a need to create my own style," she said.
The Aunty Collection now features paintings such as Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa re-imagined as strong and proud Aboriginal women.
Brandi said, "If you think about the classical works, they often depict people and their everyday world to some extent."
"A couple of hundred years ago we were being depicted as servants, and now we have the freedom to do The Aunty Collection."
"I don't think I realised how much of an impact that would have."
Image credits: Instagram