Impressed by the local response to the global Black Lives Matter movement and by the ongoing work of dedicated Stop Aboriginal Deaths in Custody activists, Australian artist Hugh Van Schaick wanted to do more to help in a concrete way.
Van Schaick reached out to fellow artists who shared his desire to be better allies, and also to First Nations creatives – including Amrita Hepi, Stanislava Pinchuk, Zaiba Khan, Anu Kumar, Glendyn Ivin, Saskia Wilson, Bryce Anderson and many more – and the idea for Printing In Solidarity was born. The curated site is an online fundraiser presenting beautiful digital prints delivered on fine art paper.
Ideal for brightening up your home, the prints available span the mediums of photography, painting, drawing, collage and more. The artworks are affordably priced at $100-$150, and all proceeds from the sale will be donated to First Nations charities the Aboriginal Legal Service and Children’s Ground.
You can opt for the glowing amber of Melbourne artist Evie Cahir’s painting ‘Max’s Room’, or Sydney-based Claudia Brand’s dreamy sketch ‘Cloud Study II’. There’s a touch of Peter Weir’s classic film Picnic at Hanging Rock to Saskia Wilson’s summery photographic study ‘The Lake’. Stanislava Pinchuk and Zaiba Khan’s ‘M.D. (Rice, Dahl, Chilli)’ offers beautiful close-up look on hennaed hands, with the work commissioned by the Immigration Museum of Australia for Immigration Granulation last year.
Van Schaick, working and living on Gadigal Land in Sydney, contributes earthy portrait ‘Old Man’, with the subject slumped in a chair, cigarette in hand, evoking the spirit of Van Gogh.
“For too long the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community have suffered injustice and violence inflicted by our government and police, and we who are not directly affected have not paid attention,” Van Schaick says. “We hope to raise funds to support the work these organisations are doing to support young Indigenous Australians. It’s time to speak up, using our voice and platform to encourage accountability, change the discourse and fight for the equality and sovereignty of our First Nations peoples.”
You can check out the collection on their website or Instagram page, with the auction running until September 1.
Inspired? Check out the First Nations artists at this year's Biennale of Sydney.
