Chris O’Brien LIFEHOUSE - YouCan Centre, Sydney

Gadigal translation: Gadigal / Sydney Land/ Country 
Painting Title: Ken Done’s Aboriginal SISTA IV

Ken Done’s Aboriginal SISTA IV Didactic
This series of works is FUN! And are a total embellishment of my more serious contemporary Aboriginal arts practice. They are also a nod to the 80’s legend Ken Done, who I adore. His colour, and vast documentation of Sydney (my Country) are such a gift to anyone who calls this place home. 

They are colourful, playful and humourous. The pattens in this work are a rough reference to the typography of the landscape surrounding the hospital.
These works are meant to be daydreamed to. May your dreams be big and yours days here pass you by swiftly. Many blessings.

Central to all Original Owners is the innate sense of belonging to and being a part of PLACE. This sense of place is our attachment to Country and all that connects us to it, and it to us.

Ngura, or Country, is the lifeblood of my people. The heart, soul and creator of Culture. Ngura is the physical land, animals, water and air and it is also the emotional feeling one gets when standing on Country or working on Country for the betterment of our People and Culture. Ngura is also the spiritual manifestation of our connection and engagement with and to Country.

One of the significant sites for the Gadigal people is the area on which the Opera House is built, nowadays known as Bennelong Point named after an Aboriginal man of the Wangal people. It is this area where our women would fish in traditional canoes children in tow, with lit fires in the centre of the boats for both warmth and eating purposes. These were lit on a bed of clay taken from the rocks at Bennelong Point, and any left over catch was shared here amongst kin. This site, post-Colonisation was also the place where the Sydney Boat Shed was built to service international tall ships, and which later a place where Sydney’s Aboriginal Community, Gadigal mob and others from out of town, sought refuge from the ever growing bustling metropolis around them. Later again this site became world renown with the addition of one of the worlds most outstanding pieces of architecture, the Sydney Opera House. In this iteration the point is now a place that has become home to many First Nations led arts, theatre, dance and celebration.

This series of works is FUN! And are a total embellishment of my more serious contemporary Aboriginal arts practice. They are also a nod to the 80’s legend Ken Done, who I adore. His colour, and vast documentation of Sydney (my Country) are such a gift to anyone who calls this place home. 

They are colourful, playful and humourous. The pattens in this work are a rough reference to the typography of the landscape surrounding the hospital.
These works are meant to be daydreamed to. May your dreams be big and yours days here pass you by swiftly. Many blessings.