Glen Mackie
GLEN MACKIE | 'Coral Sea Dreaming' | Vinyl-cut relief print
GLEN MACKIE | 'Coral Sea Dreaming' | Vinyl-cut relief print
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Glen Mackie (Kei Kalak)
Kulkalgal people.
Born 1975, Kala Lagaw Ya Country, Iama/Yam Island, Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islands.
Lives and works Gimuy Walaburra Yidinji/Yirrangangi Country, Gimuy/Cairns, Queensland.
Glen Mackie (Kei Kalak) is from Iama/Yam Island, and his totems are the hammerhead shark and the crocodile. His bold minarr, or infill-design style, incorporates family totemic designs as well as his own invented repeating patterns. He retells the myths and stories he inherited from older family members, and credits his artist grandfather for teaching him to carve. As Iama’s only practising artist, he feels a responsibility to keep alive the sacred stories of the four brothers who travelled from the north before memory and settled the Zenadth Kes. Mackie fiercely wants to preserve his culture by retelling the stories of his community for the benefit of young people of the Islands and the general public.
My partner Jemma, herself a Tiwi & Iama (Yam) Islander and I, honoured my ancestral grandmother by naming our daughter Kudin.The bold minar, or infill-design style in Glen Mackie (Kei Kalak)’s work incorporates family totemic designs and his own invented geometric repeating water pattern. He retells the myths and legendary stories he inherited from older family members. As one of Yam Island’s few practising artists he feels he has a responsibility to keep alive the sacred stories of the four brothers who travelled from the north before memory and settled Zenadh Kes, more commonly known as the Central and eastern Torres Strait Island.
Coral Sea Dreaming references Zenadth Kes pearling history and explores the extractivism* of Country. By using the form of a lugger, a vehicle that has literally transported the riches of Country across the seas, Mackie reflects on the international peoples who entered Country, particularly those who did so in an appropriate way to respect Country and culture. They are also a nod to the commercial success of Mackie’s great, great, great grandfather, who by the end of his life owned a fleet of five luggers and two cutters (illustrated across the top length of his print Kei Athe Mosby). Mackie’s minarr is incorporated on the sails, inside the lugger and the sea, reminding the viewer that these designs have been firmly attached to place since time immemorial. They also signal the artist’s responsibilities to keep Country and culture strong.
GLEN MACKIE | 'Coral Sea Dreaming' | 2023 | Vinyl-cut relief (in two parts) | 152 (h) x 142 (w) cm | Edition of 25
