He prefers calling himself the Australia’s original Aboriginal storyteller and refuses to be cast in the idea of just being a mere entertainer for the white audiences. Celebrated Australia artist and storyteller, Ron Bradfield Jr admits he loves facilitating cultural conversations across all levels through art and personal stories. The artist who was also a seaman in his younger days (he joined the Royal Australian Navy) draws inspiration from his time in the seas to create his series of works ‘Undertow’ which were exhibited during the Perth Festival at the Freemantle Arts Centre.
The works according to his bio ‘honour two saltwater families and saltwater stories, paying tribute to ancestors and comrades whose struggles and triumphs have inscribed themselves into his own story, into his being.’
The artworks comprising of installations are reverential, honouring symbols and icons from his saltwater worlds with mindful and respectful consideration. Functioning both as artwork and a personal museum, his artworks appear to sit in a state of poetic balance rather than competing with each other. “Installation art is more my thing but I also love weaving stories and art together to create works that speak to people, in their identity, their dreams and their origins. I am a contemporary person right alongside, of them in the stories that exist today. I just happen to draw upon the nature of who I am as an aboriginal man, and to my cultural connections and land, to inform that. Much like an artist who might grow upon what inspires and informs then,” he says.