Lloyd Hornsby Media Showcase
North West Star
Tuesday 5.7.2011
By Emma Kennedy
Artist ensuring culture not lost
Paint and brushes are at the ready for Indigenous artist Lloyd Hornsby’s arrival in Mt Isa on Thursday
Mr Hornsby travelled to Julia Creek, Cloncurry, Dajarra and Boulia last week teaching children about Indigenous art during their school holidays.
He will hold free workshops in Mt Isa from Thursday to Saturday at the PCYC Hall from 10 am.
Mr Hornsby is a proud Indigenous man and went to university at the age of 60 to gain a degree in Aboriginal art and studies. He said it was important to teach the younger generation about Indigenous art. “A lot of children are losing their culture and art can bring it back” Mr Hornsby said. “They go home and ask questions so they can learn stories. Aboriginals never wrote a word, they painted it all” Mr Hornsby said the workshops around the region had been successful and he hoped Mt Isa would provide the same talent. The work that has come out of these places, like Dajarra particularly, is amazing,” he said. “We hope to find some budding little artists and work with them.” A trip to the BHP Cannington Mine last year sparked the idea for the workshops. Four young Indigenous people signed up for a welding course at the Mt Is TAFE after Mr Hornsby held an open day at the site and he knew he could do better. “We wanted to do sessions at a number of places and visit more than just the one area,” he said. “The kids have been great there’s no rudeness and they’re all polite, they’re very talented too.”
An open day will be at the Mt Isa TAFE on July 16th from 9am to showcase the best work of young people around the region.
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Townsville Bulletin
Wednesday 10.8.2011
By Rachel Toune
Creative spirit inspires artists
Retirement has not slowed down Aboriginal artist Lloyd Hornsby who is inspiring others with his creativity.
The Brisbane based talent was in Townsville yesterday to launch an exhibition which he has labelled the Yuin collection at the Cultural Centre on Flinders Street.
Mr Hornsby said the exhibition was named after his tribe.
He said he visited Townsville each year because of the support he received from locals. “I’m building up an exhibition so I can do one in Canberra,” he said. “It’s a story about what’s taken place on this earth and below the surface”. The exhibition includes three pieces devoted to the make-up of human skin inspired by his ancestry, including Aboriginal, English and Chinese. He recently finished holding workshops in areas such as Boulia and Dajarra. “It started out just for children but then it blew up into the fact we had a lot of elders, mums and dads getting involved.” He said. “They start to grasp and move forward with it”. Mr Hornsby said he began creating pieces as a child, which were originally portraits of animals and other kids, as a way of making some money. He studied to become a commercial artist following high school but found it was not working out and moved into the metal industry working with aluminium. Since his retirement, he has been able to spend more time getting back into art and helping others.
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Courier Mail Monday 28th March 2011
Writer Tonia Ostbye
Rail Art Project on Track
Lloyd Hornsby wants to put local artists on the right track.
The Aboriginal artist is working with local talent to decorate train stations across Brisbane and in the process, teach them how to paint in Indigenous style.
Thirty-five artists from Brisbane have come together to work with Hornsby on his first project for the Buranda area.
He is working with communities to share Indigenous culture was his form of reverse reconciliation.
In my travels, I am starting to realise that there are a lot of people who are European or Australian that are so interested in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture Hornsby said. I feel like it is my job to pass on the knowledge that I have. Hornsby said his first set of murals took their inspiration from the way moisture travelled through trees that had been cut down. My interpretation is that water is life he said. It is giving life to that tree which gives oxygen to us. It gives life to us and it allows us to give life”.
Queensland Rail approached Hornsby to lead the project to paint new murals for selected train stations as part of an effort to have more community owned art as part of the transport network. Victoria St Clair, who took part in the art initiative, said the experience was a real treat and she felt privileged to be part of it. I would love to do much more of this she said.
End.
Lloyd Graduates with a Bachelor Contemporary Indigenous Art from Griffith University
Lloyd Hornsby Gawura graduated from Griffith University College of Art with a Bachelor of Australian Indigenous Contemporary Art on Saturday 19th December at the Convention Centre South Bank in Brisbane is pictured with Ms Herd a Lecturer at Griffith University, Queensland College of Art where she establish the Bachelor of Visual Arts in Contemporary Australian Indigenous Arts BoVA.CAIA), the first and only degree program of its kind in theory and practice in Australia. The program was born in 1994, and in the past 15 years has turned out a large number of graduates, along with a large number of people that have been thankful for Jennifer’s mentorship, guidance and tutelage. Lloyd Hornsby is very grateful for the assistance she has given him over the past four years.
To celebrate this momentous journey Lloyd Hornsby painted 'My DNA - my identity" for his final exhibition at the Project Gallery Griffith University South Bank. Image 8297. The painting is of a contemporary view of the melon in his skin, being Chinese aboriginal. Lloyd is a Koori from the Yuin people - his traditional lands being Wallaga Lakes. Growing up in Brisbane in the 50's and 60's Lloyd was denied the right to his Aboriginal heritage due to the stolen generation policy of the day.
"Throughout my life, I have had this constant frustration to discover my true identity flowing out of me and onto canvas. That's why I decided to take on a full-time university art course at a time when most people would be thinking about winding down their careers. "I actually did art at high school, and then at Brisbane Technical College (now QUT), " he says. All though my life I have done art. "I worked very hard. I study on the weekends and still paint. I enjoyed every bit of it. With my degree I want to work with children to pass on my life experiences and my love of storytelling through art."
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Solo Exhibition Armidale
28th November 2009 – 22nd January 2010
Armidale Independent
Relativism contemporary works by Lloyd Hornsby Gawura
Relativism is the idea that some elements or aspects of experience or culture are relative to, or dependent on other elements or aspects. Common statements that might be considered relativistic include, “That’s true for you but not for me” or “You can’t judge other cultures by the standards of your own”. My exhibition covers many aspects of my culture through the dream time and our history. There are many forms of Relativism. This form of relativism is Truth Relativism, being that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference. We have to know our history; we are people of our generation. We can look back with admiration, and hope to have some of those qualities that help us to remain true to our time. We have to acknowledge the complexities of our generation – our status and our connections. My journey into the future is reflected in my paintings on exhibition at the Armidale Cultural Centre and Keeping Place depicting “Celestial”, “On the Surface” and Historical Events.
Timothy Morrell noted art writer is quoted as saying……………
“An all-encompassing overview is fundamental to the way Lloyd Hornsby makes art. Sometimes his vision is not just national, or global, but cosmic. Dots of paint blend with a universe full of stars in rhythmic, hypnotic pictures of ideal coexistence. The natural and the supernatural world become indistinguishable, as they always are in traditional societies. His paintings are intensely optimistic in the way they use modern art as a vehicle for conveying ancient harmonies that world seems to have lost, but which could potentially be re-established.” Timothy Morrell formerly curator of ContemporaryAustralian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery comments on Lloyd Hornsby’s Exhibition at the Queensland State Library
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National show of remorse influences painting
Northern Times Friday October 10th 2008
For indigenous Murrumba Downs artist Lloyd Hornsby, Kevin Rudd’s apology to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders on behalf of the Federal Government was a landmark moment.
“My Aboriginal mates in Cherbourg, which is a pretty hard place, rang me and they were in tears,” Mr Hornsby said. “It was a very important day for all Aborigines.” The occasion inspired Hornsby to create a 3m x 1.5m work called, fittingly ‘The Apology’.
Kevin Rudd, Parliament House, the stolen generation, Uluru and the Brisbane River are all depicted, as well as Hornsby’s homeland, Wallaga Lakes in New South Wales.
The work, which took Hornsby about two months to paint, was painted for the Heart Foundation’s East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition. The exhibition is at the State Library until Tuesday.
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Art from and for the heart
Art from and for the Heart – The Koori Mail, Wednesday September 10th 2008
ABORIGINAL artist Lloyd Hornsby thought the apology given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Australia's Stolen generations earlier this year took a lot of heart.
So it is probably not so surprising that the Yuin man chose the historic event as the inspiration for an impressive artwork that will help to raise awareness and funds for vital heart health research and programs.
Hornsby's 3mx1.5m 'The Apology' will be amongst more than 30 diverse works exhibited in the Heart Foundation East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition at the Queensland State Library next month.
He and fellow east coast Aboriginal artists Laurie Nilsen, Deb Taylor, Jennifer Herd, Raquel Jackson, Peter Mulcahy and Bianca Beetson have united in the fight against heart disease amongst Indigenous Australians, each donating an artwork to the Heart Foundation for auction.
All works in the exhibition will be for sale and a further commission of 25 per cent from each piece sold will to towards Heart Foundation research programs.
Drawing on the diverse lineages of cultural history and tradition across Australia, Hornsby considered Parliament House in Canberra an important setting for the ‘transformation of attitudes, fostering new dialogues, new engagements and new social and cultural milieus’.
"The apology meant that the injustices were acknowledged," he said. "It was the finest thing that could happen to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples and personally for our family."
The artist took white symbolism and integrated it with Indigenous symbols. He also incorporated his traditional lands’ iconic Gulaga Mountain, within Gulaga National Park, and the most noted icon in Australia, Uluru, in respect for the desert people.
Art writer and formally curator for Australian Art at the Qld Art Gallery Timothy Morrell critiqued the exhibition and said that an all-encompassing overview was fundamental to the way Lloyd Hornsby made art.
"Sometimes his vision is not just national, or global, but cosmic,” wrote Morrell. “Dots of paint blend with a universe full of stars in rhythmic, hypnotic pictures of ideal coexistence.
"The natural and the supernatural world become indistinguishable, as they always are in traditional societies.
"His paintings are intensely optimistic in the way they use modern art as a vehicle for conveying ancient harmonies that world seems to have lost, but which could potentially be re-established."
The Heart Foundation East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition will on display at the State Library of Qld in Brisbane from 7-14 October.
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Learning Circle
Courier Mail January 16th, 2008
Lloyd Hornsby Gawura and his daughter, Raquel Jackson Wolombi are from Wallaga Lakes south of Sydney and paint in an East Coast Aboriginal style. It’s the first time they’ve exhibited together, and Debbie Taylor and Jennifer Herd join them. Their work challenges preconceived notions of what the style of indigenous art should be like, with subject matter ranging from a spiritual interpretation of landscape to the importance of family.
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Creation in bloodlines
A love of strong colours in authentic but contemporary works is shared by an indigenous artist and his daughter
Sunday Mail January 13th 2008 by Ronnie Girdham
Successful indigenous artist Lloyd Hornsby believes his daughter Raquel Jackson Wolombi has inherited his skills with the colours and canvas but he won’t allow her to run before she can walk. “I have to earn my stripes first,” says arts graduate Raquel, 35, who majored in Aboriginal History and communications. “He’s taken on a teacher’s role”. And an eye for mixing every bold hue of the rainbow on a palette is certainly in her genes. While the desert artists focus on the more sombre ochres and browns of the barren centre, Lloyd and Raquel produce brilliant knockout images, using traditional dot painting to dazzling effect. Their first exhibition together, with fellow artists Debbie Taylor and Jennifer Herd, opened last night with about 30 works priced between $500 and $8000.
Lloyd’s Creation of the Rainbow Serpent takes a unique tack on the traditional story as he incorporates the planet Earth, to Australia where his people lived near the coast to the east of Canberra. “And there is a face on the moon”, he points out, clearly enjoying the humour of the work. Raquel too has used the stunning tones with her favourite work Coober Pedy Trail, which sees a kingfisher laying hotly coloured eggs, representing opals. “That is the hidden beauty of Coober Pedy,” Raquel says. “It’s a different style to Dad but I absolutely believe it’s an inherited talent.”
Lloyd Hornsby Gawura 60 is a descendent of the Yuin people. Their art, 40,000 years old, is authentically indigenous but the perspective is contemporary. The word Yuin means “two waters”’ and the significance of twin or double extends into Yuin art. It literally means the meeting of two worlds. A student of Aboriginal art at Griffith University, Lloyd says: “I’ve been playing around with art all my life and I can make a dollar out of it but I don’t know many rich artists – only dead ones!” He charmed his ladylove Wendy, to whom he has been married for 40 years, with presents of paintings and carvings. After school he trained as a commercial artist, were a window dresser and then a metal polisher. Later he managed an anodising plant for a multinational and retired 20 years ago. Between paintings, he runs a commercial landscape maintenance company. Jennifer Herd, one of the other two who’s works are hanging, is co-ordinator of the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art at the Queensland College of Art, while Debbie Taylor has recently exhibited at the Queensland State Library.
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Telling a Story in paint
Northern Times, Friday November 16th 2007 by Bernie Dowling
Contemporary Murrumba Downs artist Lloyd Hornsby (Gawura) presents the first exhibition by an indigenous artist at the Pine Rivers Art Gallery.
Hornsby combines dot and line painting with revelations of contemporary Australian life and landscape. His exhibition My Stories is one of two exhibitions running at the gallery from today until December 22nd. My Stories exhibition will be officially launched at 6.30pm on Friday evening; admission to the exhibition is free.
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Local artist paints from the heart
Pine Art Quarterly Newsletter – November 2007
Aboriginal artist Lloyd Hornsby currently involved in a joint exhibition at the Pine Rivers Art Gallery until 22nd December, has also lent his support to the Heart Foundation for support of intervention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders prone to heart disease. The Heart Foundation will auction one of Lloyd’s paintings on Wednesday, 5th December at the State Library and the proceeds donated to this worthy cause.
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Artists join fundraiser
Pine Rivers Press November 14th 2007
Murrumba Downs Aboriginal artist Lloyd Hornsby is among four Indigenous artists donating a major piece of work to be auctioned at the Heart Foundation’s inaugural East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition. The exhibition will be held at the State Library of Queensland from December 4 to Sunday December 9. Mr Hornsby and other artists – Laurie Nilsen, Peter Mulcahy and Debbie Taylor are well known among the arts community. The exhibition will be held at the State Library December 4 to December 9.
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Generosity at heart of artists’ gift to research
Courier Mail December 7th, 2007 by Margaret Wenham
It’s a case of art for heart’s sake – the decision by four well-known Aboriginal artists to donate a major work to be auctioned for medical research. The works of Lloyd Hornsby, Laurie Nilsen, Peter Muraay Djerippi Mulcahy and Debbie Taylor went under the hammer this week at a cocktail party to celebrate the Heart Foundation’s inaugural East Coast Aboriginal Art Exhibition at the State Library of Queensland. Proceeds from the auction along with 25 per cent from the sale price of every other piece of art sold during the exhibition – which will run until Sunday – will go towards funding a Heart Foundation research grant aimed at improving the heart health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Recent studies have found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged between 25 and 45 were 15 times more likely to suffer a fatal heart event than other Australians of the same age. As well, cardiovascular disease – including coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertensive disease and rheumatic heart disease – was the prime cause of death in the indigenous population.
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News from the Gallery
(Press Release Wednesday March 8, 2006)
Since starting university in March, the year has gone by very quickly. I have experienced a range of emotions learning about the origins of aboriginal society and culture. It is a very exciting time in my life. These experiences have allowed me to experiment and broaden my artistic skills and abilities. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and view the new editions I have just released.
Being part of the Griffith University community, a number of doors have opened for me. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to read for a part, and selected to perform in a short film called “The Walk”. The film was written by one of the Griffith University aboriginal lecturers, Marcus Waters, and tells of a story about racism between back and white and black and black. The film was shot at Beenleigh South Queensland on a cane farm not far from the coast. I play the part of the redneck farmer, with very little tolerance for the aboriginal boy dating my daughter. The film is currently being edited and should be available for release in New Zealand later on in the year.
I have also had the privilege of being part of the design team for the external wall of the new state library. The design measures 11mt x 7mt. The art team carved the design into panels of Hebel and Red Wood Timber. The panels will be moved to the Library and erected by September 2006. The team of aboriginal artists will have their names engraved into a brass plaque and placed near the wall.
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