Chris Mills-Kelly
My art practice is predominantly concerned with sculptural installations which address different social issues related to my Australian Indigenous heritage. My works address social issues such as assimilation and inequality, both during the early European settlement of Australia and the continuing repercussions still being faced by Indigenous Australians. This is exemplified through my work addressing the subject matter of the stolen generations in both historical and contemporary contexts. In doing so, I explore a range of mediums including photography, wood and mixed media in order to present a critical voice on personal and social levels. `
My premise is further heightened through the craftsmanship employed within my wood carvings. That is, I laboriously carved numerous pairs of children’s shoes as well as different hats in order to imitate the discomfort and difficulties faced by both the adults and the children in homes, institutions, missions, reserves and in a dominantly white society, caused by the attempted eradication, assimilation and eventual domination of the Australian Indigenous people. Using Camphor Laurel, these carvings symbolically emphasize how European methods and ways of life were foreign and forced upon Indigenous people. My work also portrays the many achievements of Indigenous people spanning from early settlement through to contemporary society. Depicting this through a Western historical lineage, I comment on the ongoing achievements amongst Indigenous Australians striving for equality in a dominantly white society.
Although I use several different mediums, my preference is wood. I use wood to meticulously carve material like items, which have an intimate relationship with the concept of the work. The wood lends itself to the form in a realistic manner, while creating a tension between its solidity and the item it is imitating. The concepts I tend to work with allow for me to create my works with many different layers, so there is never one single meaning behind a work.
We began installing for our collaborative show at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery (one of our on campus galleries). Once we installed both your video and the two photographs that will be going into the catalogue, we allowed the sound from your video along with the images to also reverberate throughout the gallery. Both your video and photographs are most thought provoking. They highlight similar issues that we also struggle with here in Canada, revolving around the negative impact that colonialism has had and continues to have on our First Nations People.
ReplyDeleteThis experience has been awesome seeing the work installed and knowing it has had an impact is just an amazing feeling, thankyou to everyone
ReplyDeleteMy classmates and I, look forward to seeing how all our works unfold in your gallery setting in Toowoomba. We also look forward to the resulting dialogue as well at the connections that we forge with all of you through that rich process. We found the experience of responding to your works invaluable, it stretched us in ways that we had not previously envisioned, and forced many of us to work outside of our comfort zones!
ReplyDelete