# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Footer

Established in 1995, triple j Unearthed has kicked off the careers of thousands of Australian musicians. With over 170,000 tracks from around 85,000 different artists, it"s also the spot to meet your new favourite artist.
More From Unearthed

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.

Sign up to The Unearthed Mailing List

We'll keep you up-to-date with the latest feature artist, guest reviews, what's top of the Unearthed charts and any new Australian music you should know about. You'll also get a heads up for any competitions we are running.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Biography

Fintan Magee is a Sydney based social realist painter, specializing in large-scale murals. Born in 1985 in Lismore, New South Wales, to an architect mother and father who was a sculptor, he started drawing at a young age. His earlier large-scale paintings often inhabited the isolated, abandoned and broken corners of the city, and today are found all over the world including in London, Vienna, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Moscow, Rome, Jordan, and Dublin among others.

Magee's practice is informed by a profound interest in political murals, inspired by exposure at a young age to those of his Father's native Northern Ireland. This is reflected in the socialist nature of his public artworks, which combine journalistic elements with public art. Magee's work is driven by his recognition of the power of murals to communicate political and social viewpoints and thus divide or unite communities.

Drawing from personal experience and the mundane, his figurative paintings are deeply integrated with the urban environment and explore themes of diversity, migration and transition, waste and consumption, loss, and the environment. His works exude an inherent sentimentality and softness influenced by children's books and the Low Brow art movement.

In recent years, Magee has solidified his position as one of Australia's leading public artists and has traveled extensively, completing projects in countries across the world, including Belarus, India, Jordan, Spain, Tahiti, USA, among many others. His recent solo exhibitions are ' Big Dry' at Think Space in Los Angeles (2018), 'Waves' at Mathgoth Gallery in Paris (2017) and ' Water World' at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne (2016).
Magee has been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, Juxtapoz Magazine, ABC News , The Australian, The Urban Contemporary Art Guide (2014, 2015), Street Art Australia (Lou Chamberlain), Graffiti Art (FR) Home & Design : Trends Magazine, Surface (Soren Solker) (DK), among others.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fintan Magee is a Sydney based social realist painter, specializing in large-scale murals. Born in 1985 in Lismore, New South Wales, to an architect mother and father who was a sculptor, he started drawing at a young age.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Artist Tabs

Story/Statement

My relationship with the camera was as instant as the classic polaroid type and photography has been a big part of my journey towards locating my Aboriginal family and understanding the wider community. Having been adopted into a white family, there was always an urge to understand my Aboriginal identity.

Documenting the Aboriginal community around Brisbane assisted me in learning aspects around social documentary and connecting community to significant istorical images kept in public collections. Photographing community became an important role and one that provided a personal tool for connecting with blood relatives for the first time through the lens of my first SLR camera.

Through a four year photographic cadetship at the State Library of Queensland and total darkroom time of six years, I was given a once in a lifetime opportunity where I was reproducing 100 year old images of my ancestors and on the other side of the door continue to document history through my own camera.

They say not to open darkroom doors while printing, however the darkroom doors that I have been through have opened up and literally enlightened my journey for identity leading me directly to my Aboriginal family. I will always continue to document my family and the wider community with the hope that one day my mages will end up next to the 100 year old images, proving that recent history is as important as the old history.

Courtesy of the Artist

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
UPCLOSE EXHIBITION 2015-2016My relationship with the camera was as instant as the classic polaroid type and photography has been a big part of my journey towards locating my Aboriginal family and understanding the wider community. Having been adopted into a white family, there was always an urge to understand my Aboriginal identity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Naomi Hobson is an Artist practising in painting, photography and ceramics. She resides in Coen on the banks of the riverbeds her grandparents were born. Her residence is an old tin shed that was once her village church. Her colourful abstract compositions act as a link between individuality and a shared identity, her photography grapples with indigenous identity and social issues confronting indigenous peoples while her ceramics are a modern expression of her ancient culture. Her continual inspiration is the vast traditional lands of her ancestors surrounding the town of Coen in Queensland and her culture. More recently, Naomi is further inspired by her travels throughout South-east Asia.

Coen is a small township of 300 people at the bottom of the McIlwraith Ranges (part of the Great Dividing Range) surrounded by the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, rainforest and open wooded country, with many river systems that snake down to the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef. The local clans include Kaantju, Umpila, LamaLama, Ayapathu, Wik Mungkan and Olkola. This landscape has provided inspiration for Naomi's paintings.

"I produce art in my own personal space where I feel comfortable which is mostly at home on my back veranda."

The landscape of Coen is also imbued with a marked political history. Since European settlement Aboriginal people have maintained a connection to their country through working on pastoral properties. Hobson's grandfather was employed as a stockman for a European family, while other local indigenous people worked as farmhands (cooking, cleaning, gardening, baby-sitters) for no financial reward. Further, Hobson's family have been active in indigenous land rights and reform movements in the effort to return traditional lands and on social and economic reforms to her Cape York community of Coen.

Through her art, Hobson continues her family tradition of political and social engagement and having such variety and scope of work provides Hobson with a balance in her life.

"My aboriginality is what grounds me. Through art I get to freely express all of this. I can share my creative freedoms in a contemporary way. I find photography particularly enables me to raise issues and promote awareness of our everyday life experiences."

"My art practise reflects my individuality... I want my work to tell my stories in an innovative way, I want to introduce new work, to maintain a point of difference, I am wary to re-define and not recycle."

While Hobson is quick to point out she has been exploring her art practise since her teenage years, in 2007 Hobson commenced her journey as an artist. Naomi Hobson June 2017.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Naomi Hobson is an Artist practising in painting, photography and ceramics. She resides in Coen on the banks of the riverbeds her grandparents were born. Her residence is an old tin shed that was once her village church.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It took 12 days - and many litres of paint - for Sarra to complete the artwork, with the assistance of fellow artist, Gus Eagleton.

"Gus is incredible. His own work is amazing and I couldn't have completed my work without him," Ms Sarra said.

"He had lots of little tips and tricks from how to sketch to the scale of my wall and how to use a paint sprayer.

"It was definitely out of my comfort zone being so large and high and it was a lot of hard work but I think it adds a real vibrancy to our city."

The 28-year-old Queensland College of Art graduate has always loved art, but didn't always believe she could turn her passion into a full-time job.

"Art was one of my favourite subjects in school and it's always been a part of my culture as an Aboriginal woman," Ms Sarra said.

"It's been a way for me to express myself in ways that I wasn't always able to put into words.

"But I started to gain momentum last year after I quit my full time job and started investing in myself and my business."

It's a decision that's paid off - in the past year alone, Sarra's work has been emblazoned on the side of Brisbane City Council buses, projected in lights on the William Jolly Bridge and is in high demand following sold-out exhibitions and collaborations with jewellery label Concrete Jellyfish.

Rachael Sarra's artwork 'Two Worlds' was projected onto the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane.
She has also designed uniforms for the Queensland Firebirds netball team and worked with Australia Post to design a stamp to mark the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum.

Sarra is hoping her own achievements could pave the way for more young Aboriginal artists to be represented across contemporary art and design.

"It's important to be able to see yourself reflected in our communities and expect higher of yourself than just a statistic, particularly for young mob coming up through the ranks," Ms Sarra said.

"I struggled growing up with my identity and often used self-deprecating humour as a way to deflect any questionable comments.

"Now through art I am able to play a role in redirecting the Australian narrative and occupy a space. If I'm just one artist who's found a safe place to belong and explore who they are, imagine if we held space for multiple artists.
Rachael Sarra's mural 'Distant Country' is on the side of Ipswich Health Plaza, visible from East Street. Click here for a map and locations of where to explore the new street art across Ipswich. All seven artworks which have gone up across Ipswich for the Brisbane Street Art Festival are now complete.
"Art honestly saves lives."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Storytelling through street art - Ipswich First

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It took 12 days - and many litres of paint - for Sarra to complete the artwork, with the assistance of fellow artist, Gus Eagleton. "Gus is incredible. His own work is amazing and I couldn't have completed my work without him," Ms Sarra said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rachael Sarra is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer and businesswoman whose work is an extension of her being and experiences. As a contemporary mixed raced, First Nations artist from Goreng Goreng Country, Rachael uses art as a powerful tool and outlet to explore themes she often grapples with while her work is often the resolution of such themes and conflict within herself. Rachael’s work often challenges and explores the themes of societies perception of what Aboriginal art and identity is.

Rachael graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Communication Design from the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane and is a dynamic creative with the ability to challenge narratives that are often in place to perpetuate colonial harm.

Her style is feminine, fun and engaging but is strongly drawn from her heritage and her role as an Aboriginal woman in a modern world. With a Ted X talk under her belt, Rachael is strongly anchored between multiple industries and creative outlets and is redesigning how First Nations women can walk in multiple worlds.

Rachael has worked with a multitude of clients both nationally and internationally including Tourism Australia, Kmart, Matrix, Lush Australia and UK, The Mills Foundation and Australia Post.

Rachael is passionate about anchoring business in culture and giving back to community through her own brand and her partnerships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rachael Sarra is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer and businesswoman whose work is an extension of her being and experiences. As a contemporary mixed raced, First Nations artist from Goreng Goreng Country, Rachael uses art as a powerful tool and outlet to explore themes she often grapples with while her work is often the resolution of such themes and conflict within herself.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On Wednesday 7 July, 6 - 8pm, Amani Haydar and Nyadol Nyuon will be in conversation, discussing 'The Light in Her Eyes' along with the themes, content, and process behind Amani's first memoir, 'The Mother Wound'.

Due to lockdowns, Amani will be joining us via Zoom.
As we are at capacity, please join us via our Instagram Live feed.
Archibald Prize Amani Haydar's first commercial exhibition 'The Light In Her Eyes' will run simultaneously with the launch of her book, 'The Mother Wound'.

30 June 2021 - 11 July 2021

In 2015, Haydar suffered an unimaginable loss. Her mother, Salwa, was stabbed 30 times in her Sydney home by her husband while their youngest daughter, only 18 at the time, pled with him to stop. At the time, Haydar was working as a litigation lawyer and was pregnant with her first child.

Grieving from the loss of both her parents-her mother, to a brutal attack, and her father, to a 22-year prison sentence-Haydar took to art as a means of healing from her inherited wounds.'The Light in Her Eyes' is a product of her ongoing inquiry into the personal and political dimensions of abuse, loss, and male violence.

Haydar has since combined her legal expertise with her art practice to fearlessly advocate for domestic violence survivors. In 2020, she was named Local Woman of the Year for Bankstown in recognition for her advocacy. Art critic, Ashley Crawford writes, "The lawyer Haydar became an advocate for change in the legal process for domestic violence survivors. But arguably it is the artist Haydar who holds the more powerful voice". Having only worked as an artist for a few short years, Amani was named a finalist for the Archibald Prize in 2018.

In spite of her trauma, Haydar's palettes are marked by a distinct sense of vibrancy. Her exuberant colours work in tandem with the defiant gazes of her portrait sitters to convey a sense of hope-that one day, safety and freedom will be attainable for all women. In their wide-eyed stares, we catch glimpses of the human condition, and it is through this exchange that true solidarity is achieved.
VIEW PREVIEW CATALOGUE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amani Haydar Exhibition - MARS Gallery Melbourne

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On Wednesday 7 July, 6 - 8pm, Amani Haydar and Nyadol Nyuon will be in conversation, discussing 'The Light in Her Eyes' along with the themes, content, and process behind Amani's first memoir, 'The Mother Wound'. Due to lockdowns, Amani will be joining us via Zoom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Archibald Prize Archibald 2018 finalist: Insert headline here by Amani Haydar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amani Haydar's painting is a self-portrait in which she holds a photograph of her mother, who holds a photograph of her own mother. 'When my mum was murdered in her home by my abusive father on 30 March 2015, some media outlets circulated a Fairfax photo taken in 2006 while my mum was grieving the death of her own mother, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike while fleeing the southern villages of Lebanon,' says Haydar.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Bradley Kickett is a local Noongar artist. He was born in Northam and grew up in Perth. He is descended from the Kickett clan in York, Western Australia. He began painting in 2007. Bradley's style of art is abstract with paintings depicted from an aerial view and illustrated in a fluid style that he has developed over the last three years. Bradley's art pieces are influenced by experiencing Noongar country, from the oceans to the rivers and seeing the wildflowers and the land from the air and showing the flow and the shapes of the earth. These images are all interwoven with the history and the stories that are shared and passed down to him from his family and elders. Since 2007, Bradley has exhibited and sold work at True Blue Gallery, Maaliup Aboriginal Art Gallery, Kings Park Aboriginal Art Gallery, Yonga Boodjah Aboriginal Art Gallery and the Walliup Cultural Centre in Fremantle.Bradley has also exhibited and sold work at the Animal Art Award.Bradley is currently studying in his final year at Curtin University, towards a Bachelor of Arts majoring in fine art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Bradley Kickett is a local Noongar artist. He was born in Northam and grew up in Perth. He is descended from the Kickett clan in York, Western Australia. He began painting in 2007. Bradley's style of art is abstract with paintings depicted from an aerial view and illustrated in a fluid style that he has developed over the last three years.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
All Art

Staff Picks

Just Sold

Paintings

Popular Styles

Artists

Collectable Art

Curations

Blog

Trade

About

About

About Bluethumb

Bluethumb Art Prize

Help Centre

News and Media

Testimonials

Free Shipping & Returns

Contact Us

All Art

Staff Picks

Just Sold

Paintings

Popular styles

Artists

Established Sellers

Rising Stars

Featured Artists

Popular Artists

Archibald Finalists

Indigenous Art Centres

Collectable Art

Curations

Blog

Trade

Bluethumb Art Prize

About

About

About Bluethumb

Gift Centre

Gift Vouchers

Help Centre

News and Media

Testimonials

Contact Us

Buy & Sell Art

How To Buy Art

How To Sell Art

How To Commission An Artwork

Free Shipping & Returns

Trade & Interior Design

Bluethumb Art Advisory

Ask Bradley a question

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Meeandip Derbarlmarra ( Limited edition print ) Ed. 144 of 149 by Bradley Kickett