Community Artist Spotlight: Rachael Sarra

We were over the moon when multi-disciplinary artist, designer, businesswoman and proud Goreng Goreng woman, Rachael Sarra agreed to sit down with Team Mills Foundation for our April Artist Spotlight. We thought this would be the perfect fit, not only because of what Rachael stands for, but also she is the woman behind the artwork for the Keriba Ged X Bluestone Lane Program. As a contemporary, mixed race First Nations artist, Rachael uses art as a powerful tool and outlet to explore themes she often grapples with while her work is often the resolution of such themes and conflict within herself. Rachael’s work often challenges and explores the themes of society's perception of what Aboriginal art and identity is.

This unique artwork has been designed exclusively for the Keriba Ged program by Rachael Sarra. The artwork is a depiction and direct translation of the story and journey of Patty Mills in relation to the Keriba Ged program. Keriba Ged or “Our Home” as a direct translation, is the name given to our unique pathways program designed to empower Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples to develop hospitality skills and to share our rich culture and history with the world.

TM: We started our Artist Spotlights for the first time last month under the Team Mills Foundation. I asked Patty for his first artist series, who do you want to highlight? Alyssa picked the last artist, so it was his time to choose. I asked him and he said-Rachael Sarra would be good. Obviously you have the Keriba Ged connection, but further than that you're so well-respected in the space and he really loves what you do.

RS: You were recording that part where you said, like, I'm Patty's favorite Artist..

TM: Ha! Yes I got that. So I guess, firstly, where is your mob from and who do you identify as, I guess as a person as well?

RS: Million dollar question. My dad grew up in the Bundaberg area, so I am a proud Goreng Goreng woman, but I have grown up in Ipswich, so Jagara country. Kind of that connection to country is through distance in a lot of ways for me, but not any less special I would say. I guess in that, I'm very connected to my people, but also from a connection to country perspective, almost a connection through distance, which I think comes down further into what inspired me with Keriba Ged. 

TM: Growing up, were you always into art and I guess professionally,  how did you transition? What was your progression like? 

RS: Funnily enough, growing up I always thought I was gonna play basketball. So I played basketball my whole junior probably until about twenty-one, I was in state squads and stuff like that. But as you guys would know, it takes a lot to transition from sport as a hobby, particularly as a female, into something that's a profession. Later in life and through high school I always did art and did well in art. It got to the point I needed to pick something that I was going to pursue. I picked the creative industry through studying a bachelor of communication design, so graphic design essentially. But all through that degree, I was still second guessing if I wanted to do that. I felt like it was cool in a way, but there was always something missing for me. It wasn't until I started connecting that to my culture where it felt like something that I could be passionate for long-term and could really work towards and be inspired by every day. Eventually I kind of transitioned into more of an artist, holistic type of creative, I guess. Just more recently, stepping out of that agency land. So not working for someone else and having the courage, strength, inspiration, and drive to do that for myself and find my own voice within that.

TM: What do you think are some setbacks for artists? 

RS: I think people undervalue the creative industries until they see how art and design actually changes lives. So whether it is from a functional perspective where talking with people in a visual way through a functional point of view is really important, but from an expressive, emotional and cultural way, art has been so much of my culture in the past, for a lot of people as well. And you know, we are storytellers. So when you combine those two into one platform, it's really powerful to continue and preserve culture in a way. I think some of the setbacks are people undervaluing that, a lack of funding, even down to things like copyright and understanding copywriters artists. Particularly when you throw culture into that in Australia, particularly there is a lack of understanding around culture, copyright and intellectual property.

So a lot of time, unless you're really educated and knowledgeable in that space, a lot of artists can be taken advantage of, and the artist is barely getting by and paying their rent. So I think building strong foundations and support to enable artists to create, rather than worrying about getting ripped off, is really important to me. 

TM: I noticed you said platform and I'm interested in watching your social media… You have a very strong voice and you wear it very well. Do you think social media is a burden or benefit? 

RS: This week? I would say burden *laughs* and any other week, I would say benefit. It takes a certain type of person to be able to do that and to maintain integrity within that platform. And that's really important to me. I think it's powerful in allowing people to have voices we’re allowing each other to connect to like-minded people that once upon a time wouldn't be available to us, but at the same time, I think it can be quite a narcissistic thing to have. You've got to also be self-aware enough to know when your voice isn't needed and when you kind of are needed, but maybe isn't the center of that conversation. I would say majority of the time it's a benefit and a privilege. Absolutely. But it does take a lot of work to carry yourself well in that space. 

TM: When you're stating a message, how do you navigate what you're saying and what that process looks like?

RS:  I think for me, although it is an online platform, what's important to me is the authenticity and the integrity that I carry with that. I started doing what I was doing to find my own voice and to kind of share my own voice for environments. And so now my platform very much is about finding the confidence to feel proud in my thinking, proud in my experiences. I guess the important thing to note is that when you carry yourself, you have to acknowledge that you're just one person of a very diverse culture and nations. So what I might say might not represent, or kind of be the same thinking as everyone, but it's kind of that idea that you were all kind of the product of colonization and this is how it's manifesting, how it's resolving itself in a way. And we're finding out voices…So I think the main thing would be just authenticity and if I genuinely believe it or not, and, and if not, then it's not going to fly.

TM:  Thinking about your relationship to Patty, how did the Keriba Ged program come about and the artwork behind that?

RS: I think Matty might've put me on to him, but once it kind of happened..to know who I was as a person, separate to me as an artist, making sure that our values, our integrity, our morals and even our general thinking really aligned. I know that is very important to Patty and also Alyssa as well as the Bluestone Lane team. So I think for me it felt a bit like an interview I guess on my cultural integrity and identity, which I really respected because that's something really important when aligning and it kind of goes back to the fact that this program will represent a lot of different people. We wanted to tell a story and create a narrative that would appeal to a diverse range of community members in Australia, but also in the states as well. So yeah, it was a really special kind of process. It seems so long ago now, unfortunately with COVID, but I don't think it makes it any less special or any less impactful that it's gonna start now rather than when we created the artwork, I think as a timeless meaning and narrative in the artwork and, and the process of the actual exchange will only strengthen that.

TM: And can you tell me a little bit about the artwork from your perspective?

RS: My relationship with country is through distance, I don't live on country. So in that way, that was my inspiration because I knew when young mob would go over to the states, they would have a similar feeling of not being on country, but they would be able to feel country with them. It was also really important to have a yarn with Patty and Uncle, really get down what they wanted to represent through their culture. But what I tried to focus on was some of the similar themes that we wanted to portray, the connection to culture, the community support. If you see art or design from back in Australia, you're in communities, it makes you feel a little less isolated. I think that's what we want to achieve with this program, as well as to create these self-determined futures for our young mob, that they can see themselves bigger than what perhaps they've been exposed to in their communities, but at that same time for them to feel safe in those endeavors and those adventures.

TM: Would you consider yourself a contemporary artist?

RS: Yeah, I definitely would consider myself contemporary. I think for me, how I've developed as an artist is really taking the foundational elements of culture and storytelling. I guess if you think about me as an individual,  I think the consistent thing for me is we're trying to tell stories to pass on to the next generation. I think what I try to do is firstly resolve the conflict that I'm grappling with within me. What I've found through that process is there is a lot of young mobs that are feeling the same way. And so through art, I'm able to tell that story in a contemporary way using contemporary themes, but the foundational element of storytelling through generations remains always.

TM: Do you have anything else that you wanted to add to this or something that you feel like you'd like to say?

RS: I think just generally for  a lot of mob they're probably grappling with a lot of heavy themes. Just generally I think through the pandemic and a lot of things happening in communities that feel quite overwhelming. I would just like to advocate for the creative industry to help make sure you feel like you're not alone. There's a lot of power in putting it down on paper, how you feel, and it to be a finished piece or resolved outcome. That process is very healing in a way, and it's a very special way to connect to culture. I just think I'd love to see a lot more embrace this story and not feel the pressure of those who've come before them or the pressure of being who the people still to come need them to be and just kind of being present, genuine and authentic in their story and that timeline.

To find out more about Rachael Sarra click here

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sar.ra__/

To find out more about the Bluestone Lane Keriba Ged Program click here