Pamela Croft, An Artist's Journey

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My art studio and home is between Keppel Sands and Joskeleigh the most southern beach communities on the Capricorn Coast , 45 klms out of Rockhampton, Darumbal country; Woppaburra waters. I am a descendant of the Koamu/Kooma clan of the Uralarai First Nations people. Our country is situated in South West Queensland around the areas now known as St George, Hebel and Dirranbandi travelling to Roma. This is my ancestral belonging place. Narran and Balonne Rivers givers of life, like an umbilical cord connecting one to land; to our laws and beliefs. 

 

 

 

 

 

                    

Pamela's Journey   

My journey to reclaim my identity uncovered my ancestral country in 1996 after much searching for family and connecting up with family

 

 

My research and visual stories began as a teenager’s personal journey to resolve her own childhood crisis of being taken away from her mother at the age of six (now known as the ‘Stolen Generation’). Now, many years later, I am resolving this crisis in my work through memory, experience and education. To find and understand my own identity and placement within this white dominating society. I produce my work in thematic conceptual series, in spontaneous bursts of activity that follow long periods of contemplation. My hands are confused when my mental thoughts are confused. I work with a variety of materials and mediums.  Duality is an ongoing subconscious continuing theme. It brings together the fragmentation of my life and my desire to change stereotyping by non-Indigenous people of Indigenous peoples. I draw on my cultural identity. My work portrays my discovery of positive Aboriginal identity, reinstating spirituality and the values of traditional cultures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

land home place belong, mixed media

 

My story, my place (1990) colour pencil drawing on artist’s handmade paper 30x30cm
Private collection Bronwyn Fredericks Keppel Sands Queensland

look for more of Pamela's art here

My story, my place (1990)


This visual story talks of my place. The symbol of the circle and four U shapes talks of women’s dreaming and home. The dotted paths divide the image into four sections with symbols representing my life as an urban Murri. The female figure with the hat represents myself. The other two figures represent my sons. There is a faint vertical fracture line through the image and this talks of the non-acceptance of this time of two cultures living in harmony, understanding and acknowledgement.


Duality within my artworks is a conscious theme. It brings together the fragmentation of my life and my desire to change the stereotyping of Australian aborigines. The story is my placement. The symbol of the circle and four U shapes represent women’s dreaming, identity and home. The dotted paths divide the image into four sections with symbols representing my life as an ‘urban’ Murri. The female figure with the hat is my logo. The other two figures are my sons.

 

 

 

 

 

Mural

Pamela Croft created the Mural "Keeping Connections Strong" in the Zoetermeer Down Under exhibition in april 2006. Keeping Connections strong is in the first place about people connecting to eachother. The mural itself depicts aboriginal symbols as central connecting elements. Around it are the handprints of the participant and the Zoetermeer community.

In the Mural, Holland is connected to Australia by means of a blue waterline. This symbolises the bond between the two countries, dating from 1606. The Dutch connected to Aboriginal Australia as traders, landing on the West coast of far North Queensland in the gulf of Carpentaria. Contact was recorded by Aboriginal oral history, and the first ships like the Duyfken where depicted in rock art. Also the stories continued to be past on to new generations. Contact was short and the Dutch wen’t back home.

Dreamweb recorded the proces of making the Wallpainting and will release a video ( the making of...) in 2007.

 

Click here for more English info about the Mural and foto's. Any info about the mural can be acquired at Dreamweb : e-mail

 

info about the Mural (word)   *   more fotos  *   

 

Pamela also made a Mural in Atlanta in march 2004, and 7th Wave Pictures made a short film about this proces. Click here to see the website.

 

 

Back to Brisbane

7 th Wave pictures (U.S.A) is producing a documentary about Pamela Crofts' life and consequences of being taken away from her mother and being part of the Aboriginal Stolen Generations.

 

Click here to see the trailer

Click here to see the website

Click here to read an article in Cinematl. com

 

           

 

 

Slipper

 

The Qwaruba Seva Foundation created together with Pamela Croft a slipper ( see picture right). The Qwaruba Seva Foundation will allocate and disperse charitable funds made possible by the profits from the sale of Qwaruba slippers. The word seva is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning “selfless service”

 

website

 

 

This symbol encompasses the concepts from the English language of – a meeting place - a gathering place – a belonging place. It represents 4 people sitting around a camp fire which is the centre circle. The U shapes surrounding the circles are the marks in the dirt left by people after sitting. The line leading up to the campfire is the trail used by the people to get to there.

 

look for more of Pamela's art here

 

 

 

 

Pamela and Mark and the dog near their house

foto: Lucien Lecarme