‘Born into homelessness to a mother with a disability and a father who is a black migrant, at a time when neither was accepted by her father and the broader society in 1972, we first resided in the care of my maternal grandmother. I am displaced from family and cultures through not belonging due to White Australia segregation policies and societal attitudes of my worth. Out of fear, from as young as I can remember, the light that shone in my life was my Dad. He was a rainbow of hope, my advocate, my everything. But when he left, my rainbow disappeared along with my human rights…
– Kelly
- Title: From taking umbrage, Rainbow me hope!
- Artist: Kelly
- Year: 2024
- Medium: Diverse sensory fabrics
My artwork is on fabric and like all garments it has its washing or care instructions, letting you know how the fabric will perform in specific wash cycles and what agent you should add to get the best outcome. I came from a society that couldn’t provide care without adding agents to get the outcomes in specific cycles, that continuously failed my family and me. So of course, my artwork includes a care instructions label about our human rights.
I’m a tactile person, who engages through energy and vibration with the environment and my surroundings, like nature and animals, not people, and that is why my artwork has different fabrics that give different sensory experiences when touched. The black fabric represents the traumatic episodes of my life, this is where I learnt to exist – in the dark, in the shadows and in silence. Not always my choice to be alive, but the hope in me was real, I always wanted a future! I dreamed it to be amazing! And so, in my artwork the rainbows represent joy, happiness and dreaming about what you don’t have as this brings comfort and hope to my life.
When I look at my artwork, I break it into three columns starting with a rainbow at the top of each column.
The first column is my childhood – here my dad was very present in my life and life was happier for me, transitioning rapidly into trauma. The black starts but I still like the soft textures of the soothing, soft fabric that reminds me of being an innocent, vulnerable, sometimes happy and always obedient child. The second column is my adolescence – the fabrics chosen here were to allow me to escape into their textures, some offer reflection or glimmers of light and colour. I find comfort in their presence. The third column is my adulthood – here I’ve chosen some sheer fabrics that reflect the sensual part of being an adult woman. I like how they feel on my skin. When faced with adversities, we can lose focus on our personal epicentre after experiencing trauma and demonise ourselves to believe we’re not worthy of touch.
As mothers, grandmothers, matriarchs, we can choose to bring the rainbow back into our lives and create our own hope.’
– Kelly