04+r+e+a

[[image:rea.jpg]]r e a
r e a is an artist of the Gamilaraay people of northern New South Wales. She is a new media artist working in photography, digital media and moving images, who also explores creative environments through installation. In her body of work, r e a has examined racial discourse (within the specifically Australian context), post-colonial issues, dispossession, loss (land, language), identity construction, especially the female self, Indigenous collective memory, as distinct 'official' memory promulgated by the nation state, the role of images in the representation of dominant culture and of Indigenous cultures; and the part played in all of this by the body. Clearly, these recurring themes and concerns are inseparable, interweaving and overlapping. There are many articles on the subjects of her work available for perusal.

//"I grew up in the era of kitsch, Elvis, movie stars and red dresses, and my mother painted all her kitchens yellow and purple, so I can't help but relate to wild colours and pop art! Contemporary urban Aboriginal art is the art that I am most passionate about because we have had to fight long and hard to be visible and I am proud that I am part of a movement which continues to interrogate colonial constructs and explore the immense diversity of Aboriginal identities." 1998

"I do not want to be pigeonholed as an 'indigenous artist'", she insists with characteristic verve. "I am an Australian artist. I know who I am, I know where I'm from, so these labels only work for you - the 'other' Australians, not for me - 'the Aboriginal'" 2004

"It seems that the harder I work to be visible the more I'm blotted out - like I'm continuously running, hoping to find the freedom to create my own identity - r e a!" 2009//

http://www.breenspace.com/exhibitions/64/r-e-a/

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subject heading: r e a