Togart Exhibition
Landing 2013
Oil on found oar.
Pennyrose Wiggins was a finalist in the Togart Contemporary Art Awards. Togart is one of Australia’s most prestigious contemporary art awards, the Togart Award brings together artworks from all cultural backgrounds. It is open to all artists who have based their practice within the northern regions of Australia or whose work demonstrates a strong connection to the North. The Award has attracted a diverse and strong field of established and emerging artists from Darwin, Victoria, South Australia, NSW, Western Australia, Queensland plus the Northern Territory.
My family owns a sacred paddle given to my great grandfather when he returned from Gallipoli. He returned with wounds that he suffered from all his life but his mother gave him the paddle and told him that even though he had returned home safe he must keep going forward. He shouldn’t dwell on what he saw at Gallipoli, he must journey forward and seek a new life. The paddle for me is a symbol of the journey that we all have to make. Our life is a boat, which will float aimlessly without a paddle to make it go forward.
I made the journey from my homeland to Darwin and I carried the knowledge of my great grandfathers paddle. Darwin is my home, I am settled here but I have to keep on with the journey, the quest of life. I journeyed forth from Darwin to the Kimberley taking the knowledge of the paddle with me metaphorically dipping it in all the hills, the creeks and the colours of the bush that I passed through. The place names reminded me of journeys taken before me by other people. On this trip I noticed how different the Kimberley is compared to my homeland, the Kimberley felt old, vast and empty.
In my homeland you paddle away and sometimes return there because that is your sanctuary where the old people are who have knowledge of your past. When I returned to Darwin I found a paddle and was inspired to recreate my journey to the Kimberley and all the places I passed through.
