Artist:
Karla Dickens
I have two loves in life: art and family—and a passion for protest. To ask questions, to give voice and light, with a desire for change. To protest as an individual, art is my voice—yet walking and standing alongside others smooths the powerlessness. There is a power in asserting objection shoulder-to-shoulder—and disapproval of the obvious injustices, pains and truths of the unheard. It is an action that holds the hope that once a story is told, a change in the unacceptable will be born and grow.
I’m not a politician; I’m an artist, a storyteller. With my art, I talk about my personal experiences. I don’t set out to make political statements. I am political, simply because I am who I am—a single mother, a lesbian, a first Australian. I am at a point in my life where I have a hell of a lot to say. Art is my voice—art is how I protest.
Photos: Mick Richards
Karla Dickens
(Wiradjuri people)
Taking back the Stars 2016
Courtesy of the City of Sydney Civic Collection
Karla Dickens
(Wiradjuri people)
Assimilated Warriors 2014
Purchased 2016. This acquisition has been supported by David Paul in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum.
Search for works by this artist in the national collection.
