Through his residency with Solid Ground, artist Dennis Golding led a set of creative workshops at Alexandria Park Community School for students to explore ideas of symbolism and identity. 170 Indigenous students from the school were invited to produce a personal symbol on their own superhero cape. Each student produced a symbol informed by their memory, experience and identity. The workshop allowed the students to think about their culture in relation to contemporary experiences which also led them to feel a strong sense of empowerment within their identity and culture.
Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding develops a practice that pursues a critical view of social, political and cultural representations of Aboriginal Australian history and contemporary experiences. Often referencing science-fiction narratives through the visual motif of the cape, Golding explores varying relationships between pop cultural figures such as superheroes and Australian colonial histories. Golding’s work thereby challenges categorical boundaries from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous experiences led by a difference of race, culture, social class and history.
Solid Ground provides education, training and employment pathways for Indigenous Australian youth in Redfern, Waterloo and Blacktown. Learn more about the Solid Ground program here.