Dharug Artist Reclaims Beach Space with Clay Figures

Dharug artist Billy Bain is preparing for his solo exhibition, "By the River," at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The exhibition features 11 new, vibrant clay sculptures depicting Indigenous family members adorned in beachwear. These figures serve as a counter-image to the traditional portrayal of the 'bronzed Aussie beachgoer,' reclaiming coastal spaces as sovereign Indigenous territory.

Bain's work also includes five landscape paintings of the Dyarubbin/Hawkesbury river, a location that connects him to his ancestral lands. He draws a metaphor from the eel's life cycle, seeing its return to river systems as akin to his own cultural journey.

Central to the exhibition is a four-meter soft sculpture of a long-finned eel, a totem animal known as 'burra' in Dharug language. This eel is adorned with 200 textile elements handwoven by his mother, Kathleen Bain. The artist's father also contributed to his artistic process, joining him on an expedition up the Dyarubbin to find ancient Aboriginal handprints.

Bain, who is color-blind, views his art practice as a form of healing and self-expression. He notes that humor in art can convey serious ideas, expressing hope for reconciliation and humanity's inherent goodness.