The exhibition John’s Stories by John Murray is a combination of work based on personal experiences and traditional story telling. A series of on-on-one story telling sessions with Elders of the Girramay and Jirrbal peoples has provided inspiration for this exhibition. The stories, handed down from the wiggy (old people) are steeped in Aboriginal culture and mythology and are significant to Girramay and Jirrbal country. The Elders and family members worked with John to help him learn about and understand traditional stories which he has translated in his very particular pictorial style.
John is a Girramay Traditional Owner and is thirty years of age. John is physically disadvantaged and has found a focused way to communicate with the world through painting and ceramics.
He began his creative journey in 2008 attending workshops at the Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre and very quickly began to express his life experiences through visual representation. John’s bright and naively direct work brings to life the pleasure he takes in fishing, camping and living within a rainforest environment. His work presents visual imagery of camping trips, places he has lived at or visited, the Bathurst car races (which he loves) and more.. John’s Stories was first exhibited in 2010 as part of the KickArts Hatch Program supported by Arts Queensland Industry Initiatives.
His work has been Selected to tour Queensland in 2012, a regional tour will further bolster the John Murray’s confidence and pride, reflecting positively again on Girringun’s supportive role in developing artists’ careers.