Lexie Abel
Title: Colour is a feeling, 2022
Artist statement
Continuing culture: moving moments and listening story, for me, means being deeply connected to a place despite not being from there. To know the rock formations by heart, to know the tide times based on the seasons and to plan days on the bay depending on which way the wind is blowing. I feel a deep sense of belonging when I am digging for clay on the coastline. When I watch my children mix ochre and paint their bodies. When we float in the clear water being rocked by the motions of the incoming tide. Forever on this journey of connecting to country, calling out and saying thank you for holding me.
Soft shells, smooth sea clay, rich ochre and the perfect sunsets kissing our salty skin. What a place to raise children. What a place to weave stories, stitching our hearts to a location.
This design aims to capture childhood joy on the bay. Children digging for clay, collecting shells and making their own connections to country. Forever grateful for Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi Country and all that it means to make memories here. The colour palette represents the bay in a contemporary way, exploring colour as a feeling and less than a literal interpretation. Moreton Bay and my memories here are warm, the earth safe and the stories limitless.
Curator
For this project, the artist was supported and mentored by curator Libby Harward, a descendant of the Ngugi people of Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) in Quandamooka Country. Libby is an accomplished artist, curator and arts facilitator with deep connections to many practising artists across South East Queensland. Libby currently operates Munnimbah-Dja, an Indigenous-run consultancy, art gallery, shopfront and Yarning Place with Jinibara artist BJ Murphy.
This mural was funded by the Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.