Icon to a stolen child: No
Julie DOWLING: artist
While I was living with my grandmother after she suffered a stroke, I
painted a number of icons to stolen children. I grew up hearing the
stories, and they were too overwhelming for me to just write about them.
I began painting them as well.
My grandmother was a stolen child and was taken away from her mother
and community at aged 12 years old.
When I was growing up, this was a time all about reunions of members
of my family and friends. These reunions were when the children came
back who had been stolen by the government in the 1930s to late 1960s.
This icon reflects on the way children would rebel against how they were
treated by being disobedient to those that took them away.
painted a number of icons to stolen children. I grew up hearing the
stories, and they were too overwhelming for me to just write about them.
I began painting them as well.
My grandmother was a stolen child and was taken away from her mother
and community at aged 12 years old.
When I was growing up, this was a time all about reunions of members
of my family and friends. These reunions were when the children came
back who had been stolen by the government in the 1930s to late 1960s.
This icon reflects on the way children would rebel against how they were
treated by being disobedient to those that took them away.
Title
Icon to a stolen child: No
Artist/Maker and role
Julie DOWLING: artist
Date
1997
Medium
synthetic polymer paint, red ochre, blood and metallic paint on canvas
Measurements
45.5 x 35.4 cm
Credit line
Gift of Brigitte Braun, 2017
© Julie Dowling / Copyright Agency
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
2017/0040