megan evans
Artwork title: porrgil inherits the Empire
Medium: Gouache in antique document
Size: 65 x 53 cm
About the Artwork
A document from 1864-5 relates to the sale of a schooner titled Empire. The document can’t be read easily due to its orientation. The language is impenetrable and is akin to the nature of the British laws and culture of the time. This document names people who were alive and were witness at the time of the ‘civilising’ of the continent and the dispossessing First Nations people of their land. porrgil is the Wadawurrung name for the rainbow lorikeet who has been painted prostrate on this historical document.
About the Artist
A multidisciplinary artist, megan evans positions herself as the colonial body in the contemporary Australian landscape and examines how to take responsibility for a past she has inherited. Her work examines the impact of colonisation on identity, both self and nation. It is influenced by the intersection of her settler colonial heritage and her family, via marriage, to Gunditjmarra artist and activist the late Les Griggs.