Digital print aluminium composite and acrylic paint on brick

8.5m x 1.6m and 3m x 3m

Dharawal Country

What does it mean to return to a place that shaped you?

My first ever mural was painted at this pre-school many years ago when I was a student of the arts. It warn from the years so it was time for a replacement. 

I actually went to this pre-school as a child so it's very close to my heart. 

To have my nephews help me out who also went to this pre-school. 

Our curious nature when we are kids never leaves. Always embrace your curiosity and creativity.  

Here live lots of amazing ocean friends! Many you might not even know are right here in our rock pools, bays, and beaches. This is their home, and it’s our job to care for it too.

For Aboriginal people, this land and water is more than a place, it’s Country. It holds stories, knowledge, and life. Seasons change, the climate changes, and the ocean needs our care, just like we need it.

I love the water. It’s calm and peaceful, but strong too! Just like the tides. I grew up around here, just around the corner from the preschool. I went to this preschool and have such fond memories. I remember the smell of salt, the feeling of being between the beach and the bay, and all the fun adventures along the rocks and shores .

In this work, you will meet some of my favourite ocean friends. Starfish, which I used to find all the time down at Gunnamatta. Neptune’s Necklace around shelly beach, where I would spend hours in the rock pools, imagining little stories. On rare occasions, a blue-ringed octopus would appear, its bright rings looking like something from another planet, yet native to our waters. Bluebottles float in with the warm currents, their message clear. Stay safe when you see them on the shore.

I like to arrange shells you find along the beach, never taking them home, but making ephemeral artworks, noticing each pattern and shape, each as unique as we are. I climbed the rocks carefully, watching out for oyster families cluster together, living alongside one another through time on their ancestors. Blue swimmer crabs would scuttle by, protecting their homes, little characters in this underwater world.

I still spend a lot of time in Cronulla, my parents are still in the same house I grew up in around the corner. On my most recent visit to my parents I went down to Blackwoods. There I spotted a sea turtle! A curious little head poking its head up over the waves. It’s the first one I’ve seen in Cronulla. So next time you're down at the beach keep an eye out.

There is a whole universe beneath the waves, a comforting place to know that life is thriving. We can imagine the stories and friendships of all these creatures. Orcas families pass through with their babies, moving along the coast with the seasons, an important animal for the Dharawal people. The weedy sea dragon drifts slowly in the currents, a master of disguise with leaf-like appendages, blending perfectly into the kelp and seaweed.

Dharawal is a nurturing place, a world full of wonder, a home for many lives, and a world we can care for with curiosity, love, and respect.