ARTWORKS

KING WALLY 1947 (2021)

My grandfather, Walter (pictured, 1947), was working on a farm in regional Western Australia in the 40’s and 50’s. He was expelled from school around age 11 because he had no shoes. This was a reality for Aboriginal people who were mostly living on government-sanctioned settlements called reserves. Many were only allowed to leave the reserve to work amongst many other oppressive laws. My grandfather worked the farm throughout his childhood until he was a young man. The farm owner offered rations and to sleep in the horse stables in the warmth of the hay as compensation for his work. The owner claimed to pay my grandfather by safekeeping his earnings in a “trust fund”. This fund was his own pocket and my grandfather never saw a cent from it. The wealth of Australia was built on the back of this common occurrence now known as the Stolen Wages, a historical exploitation of Aboriginal workers through intentional withholding and mismanagement of their earnings by government and private employers.

Screenprint on paper

150cm x 90cm