Simone Thomson
I am a Melbourne based Aboriginal artist and descendant of Victoria’s Wurundjeri and Yorta-Yorta tribes through my mother, and I am Irish and Scottish through my father.
I draw inspiration for my art from the abundant textures and colours of this beautiful land along with the ancestral bonds I have to the Birrarung (Yarra River) and Dhungala (the Murray River). My people are river people, so I find that waterways often interweave into my art along with dreaming and creation stories of the sky.
I pay my respects to my mother, my maternal grandmother Kooka Geraldine, and her mother, my great-grandmother – Kooka Yarmuk. It is through them in particular that I carry the language, stories and ancestral oral history and knowledge passed down to me from my mother.
I have been blessed with a strong cultural education that includes traditional song and dance as a young child. These cultural practices continued into my teenage years where I became the first graduating student of Victoria’s first Aboriginal school, Worawa Aboriginal College. It’s here that I picked up my first paint brush at fifteen and created my first dreaming story. Little did I know that I would continue this sacred art of storytelling well into my adult years and that I would still receive the same spiritual healing and strength I did back then from connecting to my culture. I invite you to share with me my dreaming stories and journey.
Galnyan, Respect.
Simone
