AB Can you take me back to the beginning and talk me through what led you to working with found products featuring negatively stereotyped Aboriginal people, and then deciding to insert your own language, imagery and humour, essentially reappropriating the appropriated?

KJ My very first work was on a Scotland tea towel – I immediately embroidered the words ‘Stolen land’ into it and mediately embroidered the words ‘Stolen land’ into it and changed all the imagery into Aboriginal imagery. And really, changed all the imagery into Aboriginal imagery. And really, it was just for fun. Then I remembered the tea towels with it was just for fun. Then I remembered the tea towels with Aboriginal imagery depicted, so I bought one on eBay about the 1982 Commonwealth Games, which I turned into ‘Stolenwealth Games’. This triggered a desire to purchase tea towels that depicted historical events, and then I’d research what was actually happening for Aboriginal people at that time and insert these narratives into the tea towels.

AB What about your personal autobiography?

KJ All of my work is very autobiographical. Lots of references to my childhood, including Bowie’s film clip for ‘Let’s Dance’, which was the first music video in which I saw urban Aboriginal people represented and I specifically remember Aboriginal people represented and I specifically remember seeing that as a kid and thinking, ‘Wow, this is my story, we’re not all sitting around in the desert on rocks with spears like all the stereotypical imagery suggests.’ You know, I’ve also recently done some works about the KLF.
I used to live next door to them in London.

AB Haha, brilliant! Tell me more?

KJ Yeah! I remember we had a party one night and played all The KLF. I also used to draw love hearts in the cold mist all The KLF. I also used to draw love hearts in the cold mist on their car windows, hahaha!

AB And what about using humour as a tool?

KJ There is no purposeful intention to make them humorous, it’s actually just a large part of my personality. For example, I struggle to have difficult conversations and when I’m forced struggle to, I always tend to make a joke out of it. But that said, humour as a tool for subversion is a key mechanism for many marginalised peoples. Sometimes, it’s the only way we can deal with and speak to some of these traumatic events while attempting to take care of ourselves at the same time.

AB The language and imagery you present is so direct. Speaking from a non-Aboriginal perspective, your work invites me in with its playful colour and visible texture, speaks to me with clever pop-culture references and contemporary language that I understand and resonate with, and makes me laugh before I have time to contemplate what I’m looking at. By the time I do, I feel uncomfortable because, actually, it’s not a joke.

KJ Yes, exactly. What I’m trying to do is reel people in, then gently slap them across the face.

AB As both an artist and an Indigenous person, how do you feel about identity labelling?

KJ To be honest, I’m not sure. Sometimes I feel that because I use so much Aboriginal-centred content in my work that I have to be an ‘Indigenous artist’. But I am also an artist, who just happens to be Indigenous. What I am is extremely proud and I use my work as a way of promoting and celebrating my culture. What I’m really interested in is using my practice as a way to continue breaking with social conventions and stereotypical perceptions limiting what Aboriginal art should and should not look like – and, ultimately, where I sit within the contemporary art conversation. I often think of those incredible artists who came before me and broke ground, like Destiny Deacon, because it would have been so hard. And I don’t think I could have been the one to do that, but I’m so grateful to be able to continue this work of breaking down stereotypes. It is so fundamental to be well researched and know who came before and understand the political situation that surrounded these artists. And it’s equally as critical to learn about Indigenous cultures that are not my own so that I can, for example, understand ownership of particular mobs’ symbols so as to not culturally appropriate and disrespect.

AB Can we talk about the flags in your most recent work?

KJ I don’t know how it’s all been about flags. I’ve been buying these for years, just like the tea towels. Initially I thought I would embroider the flags as well, but it just never happened.

AB Flags are extremely interesting as they are primarily used as signifiers of ownership, collectivity and patriotism.

KJ Yeah, they can also be little bit absurd. I actually have a souvenir plate with an image of Captain Cook and the HMS Endeavour Endeavour, which weirdly also has the Australian flag on it. Hahaha! I mean, that flag had not even been invented at the time. A lot of the settlement and invasion material I find and work with depicts scenes of white colonisers planting a flag. I mean, it’s only been since 2022 that Aboriginal people have been granted copyright to actually use and reproduce their own flag legally. One thing I find quite interesting is this ongoing human desire to keep annexing land. We’re currently exploring other planets as opportunities for colonisation. I mean, so, we’ve completely f ▼ ▼ ▼ ed this one, colonised every inch of it, and now we’re heading to other planets to do the same?

AB How has knowing this exhibition is touring the nation affected the development of this body of work?

KJ It has really influenced the way I approached the work. It became really important for me to learn about each place it will visit – the Traditional Owners, their moieties, the impact colonisation has had on their communities and whether we colonisation has had on their communities and whether we share any words in language. I spent a lot of time reading their stories, reflecting on the similarities and differences, and really enjoying that. That’s when I decided I wanted to create a specific work for each place, with the concept of Country being central. For me, Country is so much more than just the physical landscape – it’s about the deep cultural and spiritual connection that Traditional Owners have with the land. I really want to honour that connection, so I’ve made sure that each piece reflects the unique significance of the land where it’s being shown. Part of that has involved reaching out to Traditional Owners to seek permission to use their word for ‘Country’, and to make sure the work acknowledges and respects their ongoing connection to the land. The concepts of travel and souvenirs are also important themes in the exhibition. Just as people collect souvenirs when they travel, I want these works to leave a lasting impression. I hope they encourage people to think more deeply about their own relationship with the land. And, when they visit new places, I want audiences to ask themselves whose Country they are on, learn a bit about its history and approach it with the respect it deserves.