“CROSSING COUNTRIES 2.0”

Acrylic on flat canvas 

60cm x 81cm 

Kashael. B

$650

In lore traditionally I am from no where! That doesn’t mean I am of no where. It just means that’s without elder or custodian permission I am unable to pass on their stories of country. My ancestors have not let me down, the colony has. 

Lore was established before law and we lived beautifully. We still do but are subject to the effects of the stolen generation, lands, history and wealth. How are we, the misplaced, supposed to identify with tribes that don’t acknowledge us as we are: “stolen” how are we to feel confident in our aboriginality when it is being washed by White man. This piece is for my misplaced, with connections to many lands without being subject to a particular tribe. 

This is my own song line, this is my family, I am Kashael David Bigby and this is my story. You will see the emergence of both of my mother countries in this piece. How my bloodlines have tracked each other and created my story. My heart, my soul, my whakapapa to the stolen children I carry your stories and I hear you through the breeze, I see you in the tides and I feel you on this land. Crossing Countries is dedicated to our shared resilience. 

As respect to my roots I painted my story in the style of my Aunty Jeanie. She would always use these beautiful earthy tones to create insanely stunning works. There was this piece of a two lizards fighting that she made when I was about eleven. I was so impressed that four colours could create such stunning imagery. The work is one my favourites by far. I love the use of bright and vibrant colours but I will always have a soft spot for my aunty’s colour palette choices. Bold in its own way. This version of my song line is captured in the day where the sunshine’s on all of my loved ones. Connected by the land, connected by the sea, connected by blood.