The Story of My Artwork

The story behind the artwork follows through the 2 subjects of the painting, the Australian falcon and the green tree frog.

Through research, the Australian falcon is considered and looked at as ‘fire hawks’ in some aboriginal tribes. They were given this name due to their habit of picking up the leftover burning bark and sticks from an aboriginal man’s fire and building a new one at its feasting place to feast on more bugs and insects around them. Falcons also symbolise ‘the noble, soaring spirit of age’.

I chose the green frog despite the perception of the NAIDOC theme, ‘keep the fire burning’, because although this species is associated commonly with water techniques and water settings in Aboriginal culture, the symbolism behind the creature perfectly matches with the theme. The green tree frog represents the ‘connection to the land’, which links back to the falcon and how the falcon acts as the ‘soaring’, ‘fiery’, spirit of ‘age’, whilst the frog is the connection to the land. To keep the ‘fire burning’, we must persist and protect the ‘soaring spirit of the land as it ages.’ The symbols throughout the painting solely represent the habitat of each animal and how the falcon skims past through all of the indigenous lands, the people, the sand hills, and the pathways to each campsite, it overlooks how beautiful the land is and how the land must keep living in pure culture. In other words how I perceived the theme, was, ‘keep the spirit of the Indigenous lands alive’, which I represented through cultural significance in animals and natural settings.

To find out what is happening during NAIDOC week in your area visit - https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/naidoc-week