Through the appropriation of famous paintings, artist Brandi Salmon is creating positive depictions of Aboriginal people in art in her studio in the hills of Hobart.
Negative representations of Aboriginal people in artworks by artists who are not Aboriginal is how the proud Wiradjuri woman first found inspiration, in particular a 19th-century painting that depicts an Aboriginal person as a servant waiting in the presence of Captain James Cook.
It led to the creation of a series of works celebrating Aboriginal people titled The Aunty Collection.
The collection now includes five appropriated famous paintings that feature Aboriginal women, often in regal positions and as the focal point of the artwork.
Early inspiration
A home-schooling education in a small country town is why Ms Salmon picked up a paint brush and began to create art.
With few friends and limited forms of entertainment, she said she spent a lot of time trawling YouTube for fun.
"I stumbled across a documentary about Rembrandt, the famous painter — I just remember feeling like I need to do that."
She started with portraits of family members in oil paint and fell in love with the texture and longevity.
"I was painting in my little bedroom and it smelled like turps; I think it made me a bit loopy, but it was worth it."
Aboriginal presence in art became a focus when Ms Salmon attended university, where she studied creative arts.
"A lot of the paintings I came across were paintings of Aboriginal people as servants."
An engraving of Captain Cook taking possession of Australia is one such image.
The work by Samuel Calvert shows an Aboriginal man standing to attention in a suit with a loose tie, barefoot and holding a tray of drinks as Captain Cook and the British begin to colonise the land.
"What you see in a lot of paintings from those periods is a style of art which depicts Aboriginal people in such a way that justifies the colonial project," said Tiriki Onus, head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne.
"You will see Aboriginal people depicted in this almost animal-like, grotesque fashion that is indicative of a certain time period and romanticises invasion."
Mr Onus, a Yorta Yorta man, said another art movement followed in which Aboriginal people were depicted on the periphery and almost untouched, as the "noble savage", which he said was used as propaganda to "quell the distaste of the treatment of Aboriginal people".
The Captain Cook image was later appropriated by artist Gordon Bennett who created two works, Possession Island, depicting the same scene.
By using vibrant colours and adjusting the focal point of the image, Bennett changed the narrative of the painting from one of celebration to critical reflection.
"Gordon's work is extremely powerful and forthright; he seeks to redress the balance in the representation of Aboriginal people and the way stories are told," Mr Onus said.
"Brandi's work puts me in mind of that when I engage with it. I love the way Brandi is creating that space and holding it for herself and for blak women and our communities in general."
For Ms Salmon, Bennett's work had a similar impact upon her thinking.
"Seeing that painting by Gordon Bennett, an Aboriginal painter, made a switch flick in my head. Wow, it made me realise I could do that."
The Aunty Collection
Ms Salmon created the first of the Aunty Collection paintings, Aunt Venus, for a university assignment and said she planned to create more.
Growing up off country with a father who was adopted, she said he did not get the opportunity to learn traditional knowledge and that loss trickled down to his six children.
"I wasn't taught how to do the traditional painting and I felt like I couldn't do it. I felt a need to create my own style."
The Aunty Collection now features paintings such as Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa re-imagined as strong and proud Aboriginal women.
The collection's name itself is significant to Ms Salmon, who moved a lot as a child and grew up without Aunties; forging those relationships in her new communities helped her settle in and feel welcome.
"Whenever I would meet an Aboriginal woman and she'd let me call her Aunty, it would make me feel safe and happy.
"I had feedback from someone who purchased Aunty With A Black Earring the other day, and they said the painting made them feel calm and watched over."
The collection expands
The most recent Aunty is based on da Vinci's Lady With An Ermine and features an Aboriginal woman holding a devon sausage, an injection of "blackfella" humour that Ms Salmon said would become more regular with each painting.
"A lot of people I know who aren't blackfellas, they don't get it when I talk about how much I used to eat devon," she laughed.
"Every blackfella knows that we love devon, you know, it's devon!"
Mr Onus laughed when he observed devon in Ms Salmon's latest work.
"There's a wonderful charm and within that devon is one of those products from my childhood which seems to follow me everywhere," he said.
"There are certain objects and products that resonate deeply with Aboriginal families, like devon and corned beef in a tin or Keen's curry powder.
"If you think about the classical works, they often depict people and their everyday world to some extent."
Ms Salmon plans to paint an appropriation of da Vinci's The Last Supper featuring every Aunty from the series.
To her, the series is a reminder of how much has changed in the past two centuries when it comes to depictions of Aboriginal people in art.
"A couple of hundred years ago we were being depicted as servants, and now we have the freedom to do The Aunty Collection.
"I don't think I realised how much of an impact that would have."
