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Biography
SOLO EXHIBITION - GOMBOC GALLERY 14
September - 12 October 2008
About the artist
 Sandra Hill was born in South Perth, Western Australia in 1951.
She is a Yorga (woman) of the Noongar Aboriginal people of the
South-West of Western Australia.
Her traditional clans are Ballardong and Wilmen on her mother’s side
and Wardandi and Minang on her father’s side.
In 1958, at the age of six, Sandra, her brother and two sisters
were taken from the care of their mother who was, at the time,
living and working in Port Sampson in the north of the state. The
children were transported to Perth and placed in Sister Kate’s
Orphanage for ‘half Caste’ children to be fostered out as part of
the assimilation policy of the time.
At the age of seven, Sandra and her older sister were fostered out
to a white family with whom she stayed with until she married in
1968. In 1985, twenty-seven years after her removal, Sandra was
finally reunited with her mother and father.
In 1990, Sandra began to research her culture and set out to find
extended family members. This led her on a journey of discovery,
both in relation to her Cultural Heritage and to her true identity.
Her journey has been both painful and traumatic. It has been one of
grief at what was lost to her for 27 years and one of joy for what
was found, one of contempt and bitterness for those responsible and
finally one of understanding, awareness, acceptance and forgiveness.
Sandra’s art is extremely personal to her as it has, throughout
the difficult circumstances of her life, reflected her
Aboriginality, spirituality and her personal identity. It is the one
true and real thing that has remained constant throughout her life.
Her work tells and shares the stories of her experiences. To her it
is a visual essay or historical reference to what she and her people
have suffered and lost in the recent past however, more importantly,
Sandra sees it as a celebration of survival, Cultural identity,
revival and finally, as a triumph of the Indigenous spirit.
Sandra has two sons and a daughter, both of her sons, Christopher
Pease and Ben Pushman are also professional artists and her daughter
Tracie Pushman has a psychology degree from Curtin University. She
also has five adorable grandchildren. All three of her children are
proud Noongars and continue to tell and share the stories of their
culture, their family experiences and their heritage through their
art and their work.
Sandra will carry on sharing her knowledge and her experiences with
her children, her grandchildren and with the wider community and
will always endeavour to diminish the gap between Indigenous and non
Indigenous Australians through the stories her art has to tell.
Artistic overview
Sandra’s first formal art training was in 1978 when she enrolled
in a Fine Arts course at Balga Technical College in Perth. After the
completion of her studies she began lecturing firstly at Balga and
then at Midland TAFE where she continued to teach for several years.
From 1994 - 2007 Sandra has been involved in many Public Art
projects both in Perth and interstate. The most recent features a
major work commissioned by the Chief Ministers Office in Canberra.
The artwork was to commemorate and feature the culture, identity and
heritage of the Indigenous people of Canberra, the Ngunnawal people.
The work was installed in the heart of Canberra in January 2007 and
opened by the Chief Minister.
Sandra’s first solo show “Sandra Hill” took place at the
Guildford Hotel in 1993. In 1994, Sandra moved to the coastal town
of Geraldton to work and to reconnect with her birth mother. It was
here that she applied for and became the recipient of a $35,000
Australia Council Creative Development Fellowship. This culminated
in her second solo exhibition in 1995, titled, “Footprints in Time-
a Childhood Experience” which focussed solely on the Stolen
Generation. This was followed in 1997 with an exhibition titled
“Triumph of Spirit-an Aboriginal Experience” which dealt with the
Government Policies and Legislation that had controlled Aboriginal
people since Colonisation.
In 1999, Sandra was employed as the Director of the Contemporary
Aboriginal Art Program at Curtin University of Technology. In 2001,
she continued in her role as Co-ordinator and Lecturer while
studying for her Post Graduate Diploma in Visual Arts and was
awarded her Degree in 2002. She continued to lecture at Curtin until
2004.
In 2001, Sandra was one of five Indigenous artists from Australia to
join 20 other artists from around the world in the West Australian
International Artists Workshop held at Dingo Flat Farm in Walpole,
Western Australia. The group gathered and created art together over
a 2-week period culminating in an exhibition of the work at Curtin
University in Perth.
In 2003 She was chosen to participate in the first residency
solely for Indigenous artists to be held at the Banff Art Centre in
Alberta, Canada. She was one of six Aboriginal Australian artists
that attended as well as twenty-nine other Aboriginal artists from
four other countries. The Thematic Residency Communion & other
Conversations; Colonialism and Christianity was for a 7-week period
and her work was shown in two group exhibitions during her stay at
the Banff Centre. Upon her return from Canada Sandra left Curtin
University, moved to her bush block in the country and worked as a
full time artist. She recently relocated her home to be closer to
her partner Stefan, and now paints full time in their studio, the
Wardong Art Studio in Balingup, Western Australia.
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THIRTEEN TRIBES
Oils on board
90 x 60 cm
$5,000 |
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