Kylie THOMAS (14 May 1973 - ) Born Creswick, Victoria A graduate of the Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) (1993) and Diploma of Visual Arts (1995) from Federation University (then University of Ballarat) Kylie Thomas continued her art practice after studying under distinguished sculptors Peter Blizzard and Adrian Mauriks. This work was acquired from her graduate folio. Soon after completing her studies Kylie Thomas became an artist in residence at Ballarat Grammar School building a public sculpture for the grounds conceived by one of her selected students as part of the program. She became the youngest exhibiting applicant to be awarded the City of Port Phillip, Rupert Bunny Foundation artist in residence program. After moving to Mallacoota she was absorbed into the community as a visual artist, actor, playwright and assistant publicist. Her commissioned public artwork and sculptures as part of residences collections were all lost in the 2019 bushfires that decimated Mallacoota. Moving back to her hometown of Creswick Kylie Thomas completed a Diploma in Education qualifying as a secondary teacher, always continuing her art practice while teaching. Needing to work again, but with no desire to teach, Kylie Thomas studied Building Design and Architectural Drafting, homing in on other areas which could link back to her artistic practice. Working in this field for a short time she moved to Melbourne where she exhibited paintings and sculpture installations as part of The Melbourne Fringe Festival. She also worked in set design, and as a stage manager and theatre actor. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.This work is a spiritual totem created in the tradition of the bricoleur, dedicated to bygone cultures, lost technology and mystery referencing nature, humanity and technology. Humanity to use technology with and for nature. The materials are symbolic, the use of bone, Perspex, computer parts, found and crafted objects constructed in a resulting harmony creating a symbiotic relationship. Tapping the 4th dimension that could lift off into space and come back again, with a feeling of weightlessness, awe and suspension captured. A sculpture which stands on a white pedestal with perspex cover. 'Cultural Dedication' is the final work in a series of sculptures influenced by the ancient cultures of Egypt. art, artwork, kylie thomas, sculpture, alumni

Yhonnie SCARCE (1973- ) Born Woomera, South Australia Language group: Kokatha, Southern desert region and Nukunu, Spencer region Yhonnie Scarce works predominantly in glass. She majored in glass withing a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) course at the South Australian School of Art, Adelaide, and holds a Master of Fine Arts from Monash University. One of the first contemporary Australian artists to explore the political and aesthetic power of glass, Scarce describes her work as ‘politically motivated and emotionally driven’. Scarce’s work often references the on-going effects of colonisation on Aboriginal people, In particular her research focus has explored the impact of the removal and relocation of Aboriginal people from their homelands and the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families. (https://thisisnofantasy.com/artist/yhonnie-scarce/, accessed 10 September 2018)Artist's Statement 'The More Bones the Better', 2016 Yhonnie Scarce was born in Woomera, SA and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. Scarce embraces a non traditional approach to glass blowing using glass as more than a mere material, acting as a lens and a mirror, Scarce reflects and exposes the tragedies of Australia’s colonisation. She applies the technical rigours of traditional glass blowing techniques in an innovative and unconventional manner. In particular Scarce uses glass to explore the lives and histories of Aboriginal Australians. Hand blown glass is shaped, engraved, painted and smashed to create indigenous fruits and vegetables such as bush bananas, bush plums and long yams symbolic of her peoples culture and traditions. With their elongated, torso-like shapes, they even evoke human bodies. Akin to a gatherer of bush food Scarce creates glass-gatherings of the persecuted. The repetition of brittle ambiguous bodies collected for experimentation and examination conjures the relentless impact of colonisation and the litany of abuses suffered by Aboriginal people. Within her research Scarce encountered a variety of ethnographic studies examining the use of scientific interventions amongst Indigenous cultures. These include Government sanctioned illegal drug testing of children in orphanages and other dubious medical practices amongst indigenous prison inmates. This work metaphorically looks at these situations and poses questions of what might have gone on in such a laboratory. The judge of the 2017 Guirguis New Art Prize (GNAP), Simon Maidment, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria said; “The winning work by Yhonnie Scarce captures the sensitivity to materials she displays throughout her artistic practice. The blown and shattered glass elements are a delicate contrast to the shocking and little discussed histories of Aboriginal exploitation and abuse in the name of science in Australia. Engaging this topic, this work is haunting, in the same way those lived and documented experiences continue to haunt the collective unconscious of this country. Yhonnie Scarce’s work, The More Bones the Better 2016, I believe makes an important contribution to the Collection of Federation University Australia and will engage and move diverse audiences with its technical accomplishment, beauty and message. Yhonnie Scarce was born in Woomera SA and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. Scarce embraces a non-traditional approach to glass blowing using her medium as more than a mere material. Applying the technical rigours of traditional glass blowing in an innovative and unconventional manner, Scarce’s glass objects act as a lens and a mirror to reflect and expose the tragedies of Australia’s colonisation and, in particular, explore the lives and histories of Aboriginal Australians. Hand-blown glass is shaped, engraved, painted and smashed to represent indigenous fruits and vegetables such as bush bananas, bush plums and long yams, symbolic of Scarce’s people’s culture and traditions. While these elongated shapes on the one hand represent fruit and vegetables, gathered and grouped as in the gathering of bush food, Scarce’s torso-like bodies and forms are glass ‘gatherings’ representative of the gathering of people. Here, the many brittle bodies act as a metaphor for the collection, experimentation and examinations undertaken by government authorities on Aboriginal communities researched by Scarce. Exposing a variety of ethnographic studies, examining the use of scientific interventions on Indigenous cultures, Scarce also revealed Government sanctioned illegal drug testing of children in orphanages and other dubious medical practices undertaken on indigenous prison inmates. Scarce’s gatherings also reflect the impact of colonisation and the relentless conjuring and litany of abuses suffered by Aboriginal people. The More Bones the Better metaphorically looks at these situations and poses questions of what was undertaken and investigated in these laboratories. guirguis new art prize, yhonnie scarce, glass, aboriginal

The 1888 Centennial International Exhibition, celebrating a century of Australian settlement, surpassed even the grand scale of the1880 Melbourne International Exhibition. It attracted over two million people, but the Victorian government had to spend £250 000 on it, ten times the amount estimated. The exhibition had a distinctively imperial focus, and a greater emphasis on culture than in 1880, particularly on music and painting (1). (1. https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/273830) S.D. Gadd was appointed Curator of Parks and Gardens in 1874 an lived in residence in Rosalind Park. He resigned in 1905 and moved to Melbourne where he died in 1917. Mr Gadd was a prominent member of the Masonic Lodge. It is not clear why he was awarded this medal.The bronze medal of the Centennial International Exhibition awarded to S.G. Gadd. Obverse - Portrait: bust of Queen Victoria in left profile wearing a crown, veil and 3 medals. Reverse - Field: Victor's wreath consisting of leaves and acorns of British oak and the leaves and acorns of the wattle. The oak and wattle were tied together 'by a true-lover's knot, 'symbolizing the unity and affection between the mother country and the colony'. Southern Cross inside surrounded by a legend. (https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/273822) Obverse - Motto: Centennial International Exhibition Melbourne Reverse - Legend: (Latin) Artibus Dignis Honor Insignis (To the deserving arts, distinguished honor) (Mint) left: Melbourne Mint. (Date) Lower Centre: MDCCCLXXXVIII. (Engraver) Right: Stokes & Martin S.C. Edge - Plain, impressed with S.G. Gadd ESQ.centennial international exhibition melbourne 1888, s.g. gadd, rosalind park, city of greater bendigo medals

These works are a display of my frustration of hour our family were lucky we were not beheaded, scalped, taken away and impaled as a warning to others not to enter farming lands, which had been traditional lands of the Nganyaywana country. The word 'Policy' represents the White Australia Policy, the word "Lost' stands for those lost including hundreds of family members, 'Jobs' asks why Aboriginal people can only find employment if through Aboriginal positions and policies. The number 3 symbolises myself and my siblings, red is for bloodshed, blue is for secrets and black the family history. Patrice MUTHAYMILES MAHONEY OAM Anewan/Nganyaywan/Dunghutti country. Patrice Mahoney is a printmaker, sculptor, weaver, drawer and painter. Her work challenges mainstream and Aboriginal Australians and is profoundly influenced by space, place and country, taking inspiration from nature, environment and looking forward to a time when she can return to her family's traditional country to make work. In 2012 the artist completed a Bachelor of Visual and Media Arts at Monash University’s Churchill campus (from 2014 Federation University's Churchill Campus). The Victorian Indigenous Art Awards 2014 were exhibited and judged at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.This unique edition triptych involves the techniques of intaglio copper plate, pigment, soft ground, open bite, aquatint, spit-bite, stamping, relief, drawing and burnishing on paper. It was awarded the 2014 Victorian Indigenous Art Awards Federation University Acquisitive Award for for work by a Victorian regional artist. Text, colour, metaphor and Aboriginal symbolism are important components of her work. This work expresses the artist's frustration with unjust situations experienced by traditional owners of Nganyaywana country. The word 'Policy' refers to White Australia Policy, 'Lost' the hundreds of lost family members, and 'Jobs' highlights the difficulty of Aboriginal peple obtaining work, especially outside Aboriginal positions and policy. The number 3 symbolises Patrice Mahoney's siblings, with black used to denote family history. The violently splattered red represents bloodshed, with the blue washing across the work obscuring details and representing secrets. The Selection Panel of the 2014 Victorian Indigenous Art Awards made the following comments on the work: 'The selection panel for the Federation University Acquisitive Award for 2014 were highly impressed by this work and applauded the vigorous use of symbolism and metaphor in a well scripted visual composition. The poignancy of connectedness to the past, memory, place and country is palpable and enhanced by the suggestive employment of text and minimal colour. A provocative and evocative work of art!artist, artwork, patrice mahoney, aboriginal, victorian indigenous awards, jobs, culture, printmaking, drawing, policies, lost, victorian indigenous art awards, available, alumni