KYLIE HILL
Artistic discipline: different mediums on canvas, wood and sporting equipment
Location: South East QLD
The last piece I created is…a painting I have called ‘Eagle Dreaming’. It represents my husband and I as one. I’ve been married to Dave for 22 years and we’ve been together for 26. The painting is sacred to me as the nesting lines behind the eagle represent our jarjums (children). My Family are my everything.
Inspiration for my art comes from…my family, friends, community, people, our land and our culture. We are storytellers, so everything has to have a storyline, a purpose and be meaningful.
What is unique about your work? Most of my work isn’t symmetrical as I believe that none of us are perfect and my ancestors never pulled out a stencil or ruler to guide them so why should I? I believe that my imperfections in my artworks are perfection.
My biggest artistic challenge is…creating murals, as they take a lot of planning. Recreating an art piece on such a large scale of up to 40 metres long from an A5 or A4 sketch is a challenge. I never ever use stencils and all my artwork is freehand drawing.
The reason I became an artist/started creating is…I started painting when I was a small girl in school. It was a long time later, after losing my step son and almost losing my leg that a need for spiritual healing made me pick up the brush again. I will never look back now. Art keeps me grounded.
What I do to conjure the muse…I get myself into a quiet space, reach out to my ancestors and ask for guidance. Art is very spiritual to me. I also sit with my husband David each morning on our balcony, we look out at the trees and sky and I get a lot of visual input to guide me. We talk storyline’s over with one another and I sketch my pieces out on in a book.
My favourite tool for creating is…I actually have a few makeup brushes that I just can’t go without!
What my art has taught me...It has taught me that no matter what I’m going through, art is healing and I can lift myself up again in the process of making new pieces. I see how it makes others feel when I’m teaching art too. It has this healing spiritual affect.