Patrice MUTHAYMILES MAHONEY

Patrice Muthaymiles Mahoney OAM is an Aboriginal Australian artist of the Nganyaywana language group of the Anewain Nation in Armidale, New South Wales. Mahoney works across printmaking, sculpture, weaving, drawing and painting, taking a multidisciplinary approach to sharing knowledge from an Aboriginal perspective and deepening her connection to her multicultural background. Mahoney has been back in Victoria for most of her career, where she has established a strong relationship with the Bass Coast community. She is also an experienced leader in educating on cultural awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Place, country, environment, and family history profoundly influence the artist’s practice, employing symbolism and metaphor throughout her compositions. In the work Jobs, Policy and LOST, Mahoney uses text, colour and Aboriginal symbolism embedded in the work to express her frustration for the injustice to the traditional owners of Nganyaywana country, her ancestors. Many people of this country were taken away and killed to warn others not to enter the land, which would be used for farming.

Each word carries significance in the political context of the work. The term ‘Policy’ refers to the White Australia Policy, ‘Lost’ representing the hundreds of lost family members, and ‘Jobs’ interrogates our employment systems and why Aboriginal people can only find employment through Aboriginal positions and policies.

Further to this, Mahoney has included the number 3, which directly symbolises her siblings, a suggestion of the future, while black is used to denote family history. The red ink has been violently splattered to allude to bloodshed, and the blue pigment that washes across the work and obscures details is represented secrets.