Ian Kaddy • Usari (Yam) 2019

This artwork is about Koiki’s hands as he planted the yams. Serer wer egremadari a emorda translates to Seed it with passion and plant it. Before you plant the yam, you must prepare it so it will grow successfully. You must remove the hairs from the surface, cut the top of the vines. This work shows the hands of a great man.

····· Ian was born on Murray Island in the Torres Strait, and is now a resident of Townsville. He completed a course in Tourism at the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE. He is knowledgeable about traditional Torres Strait Island legends, dances and songs. Kaddy participated in the Indigenous Printmakers Masterclass workshops at Umbrella Studio in 2008. He is a natural carver who incorporates intricate patterning within his important family stories. The linocut prints and etchings that Kaddy carves are imbedded with significant meanings and become informative narratives of creation legends that were
told to him by his Father, Uncles and Grandfather. These stories continue to be passed down through the male line from father to son and so on. His linocut print Merriam Warrior was included in the Compact Prints 2008 exhibition at Umbrella Studio. Kaddy is also a member of the Townsville-based reggae band. His works are narratives of creation legends that were told to him by his father, Uncles and Grandfather. These stories are continued to be passed down the male line from father to son. In 2009 his work was displayed in Tracks of the Past, Printing the Future a group exhibition at Umbrella Studio. Kaddy participated in the Sugar Shaker Project, commissioned to supply works on paper for the newly refurbished Townsville Holiday Inn. His work is featured in the foyer and rooms throughout the hotel. Kaddy was invited to participate in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, as part of a group of artists, Kaddy was commissioned by Michael Snelling, CIAF curator to create a folio of work with a common theme. Ngapa Kai Kai is the result, a collection of 11 linocut prints created by 7 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists who live and work in the Townsville region. The folio is in the permanent collection of the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, the Queensland State Library and the National Gallery in Canberra. Ngapa Kai Kai was selected by Queensland Arts Council to tour Queensland and New South Wales in 2011 and 2012. The artist was the recipient of a New Flames Residency in 2009. He is a founding member of Murris in Ink, a group of Indigenous artists based from Umbrella Studio in Townsville, North Queensland.