Artists statement

Uncle Brian McKinnon (Dodd) (b. 1957 – d. 2023) was a Geelong-based artist and descendent of the Amangu, Yamatji and Noongar people of Western Australia. He created powerful mixed media works that explore his campaign for Aboriginal rights and his childhood experiences growing up in Western Australia.

'It Is' is a powerful mixed-media work that references the then Government’s unwillingness to formally apologise to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples who had been impacted by the Stolen Generations, in which Aboriginal and “mixed-race” children were taken from their families.

The 'Bringing Them Home' report was tabled in Parliament in 1997 and investigated the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, and the impact and legacy of these actions. Then Prime Minister, John Howard, later went on to say that he “…didn’t accept the conclusion of the 'Bringing Them Home' report that genocide had been practised against the Indigenous people.”

Uncle Brian, here, has flipped the power of language both visual and written. The elliptical figure in the foreground references Aboriginal breastplates, which were used by pre-Federation colonial authorities to indicate perceived power-rankings in Aboriginal communities not only to distinguish them, but to encourage co-operation with new white laws. These breastplates were often inscribed with titles such as “King”. Here, Uncle Brian flips power back, insinuating that Aboriginal peoples are awarding the breastplate to “Little King Johnny”, taking possession of him and “The Ow-Ard Liberals”. Barbed wire and corrugated iron reference incarceration and substandard living conditions, and overall, the artwork points to the ongoing strategies with which genocide is perpetrated.

The name ‘Tabulk’ is used by Uncle Brian in respect of his great, great, great grandmother (Tulbak).

This work won the Gumbri: White Dove Award, City of Darebin’s former award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, in 2006.