Brian Robinson

Brian Robinson
First Nations Australian, born 1973; lives and works on Gimuy Country/Cairns, Queensland 
Language group: Kala Lagaw Ya and Wuthathi

Spring and sprout 2021
synthetic polymer paint, enamel spray paint, collage and coloured pencil on paper
Courtesy of the artist and Mossenson Galleries, Whadjuk Nyoongar Country/Perth

Artist statement:

For tens of thousands of years, the customs and cultural identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders was inextricably linked to the land - its forms, fauna, and flora. Today, the identity of the entire continent is shaped by a relationship with this natural environment.

Spring and sprout looks at flowering plants and vegetation that grow in abundance after the monsoons. This natural world of wildflowers and other flora that grow at certain times throughout the seasonal calendar are a great source of food and contain medicinal properties that have fed and healed Indigenous people for tens of thousands of years.

In Torres Strait, madub were used to promote growth in the gardens—some bringing rain, others taking it back to the heavens while others again encouraged plant growth.