A changing continent

Jeffrey Samuels’ is an artist, teacher and community advocate and was a founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative, established in Redfern in 1987.

Acquired in 1986, 'A changing continent' was the first work by an Aboriginal artist from New South Wales to enter the Art Gallery’s collection. It belongs to a series of works Samuels made following a 1983 residency with Lardil elder Lyndsey Roughsey. In 1988 he spoke about the inspiration for the series and their connection to his identity:

This map of Australia series comes from the experience and the time that I spent with traditional people in the Gulf of Carpentaria on Mornington Island. And they came out of me learning traditional culture or traditional painting. I found it worked better using the map of Australia and earth ochres to portray my feeling and to do this kind of series of works.

My identity is my skin colour. My identity is in the land. The identity comes out of me and goes on the canvas. I’m always thinking about past, present, and the future. That is my identity.