Dian Darmansjah • Cultivate 2019

Whilst it has been almost 30 years since the historic Mabo decision that re-wrote the foundation of land rights law in Australia, the absurd fiction of terra nullius has left an indelible mark on the Australian psyche. In this artwork I have overlayed and juxtaposed colonial visions of the Australian landscape. These are floral patterns based on Augemwali I have collected in the Torres Strait, and details of the Cocos nucifera (a once overlooked but now recognised marker of cultivation and occupation). The printmaking medium I have used allows the images to blend and merge creating an artwork that is a homage to the legacy of Eddie Mabo.

Artist and collaborative printer Dian Darmansjah was born in central Queensland in a farming and mining town. With Minangkabau father and Anglo-Australian mother, cross cultural exchange, questioning and defining a sense of place and belonging have always been a source of inquiry and inspiration that resonates throughout his works.

Darmansjah obtained qualifications in Visual Arts (majoring in printmaking) at the Queensland University of Technology in 1994. After graduating he worked at QUT for a number of years before undertaking post graduate studies at the Tamarind Institute, University of New Mexico, USA in 1999. Upon returning to Australia he worked at the Northern Territory University as Lecturer, before being appointed as the Workshop Manager of Northern Editions in 2003. In 2006, Darmansjah moved to Sunshine Coast, QLD and established Firebox Print Studio. Alongside his work as a collaborative printer, Darmansjah has always maintained his own visual arts practice.

Darmansjah’s primary medium of expression is the printmaking mediums. Darmansjah’s work often employs several printmaking mediums, working with and against each other in a desire to create pictorial possibilities and meanings that can only be achieved in the layering that printmaking mediums afford. Darmansjah has exhibited in solo and group shows since 1994 in Australia, the USA, Chile, Thailand, Canada and China, and is represented in regional, corporate and private collections in Australia and abroad.