2024 acrylic on canvas 91 x 91cm The overall message of “Dendrobium Bigibbum” is both to communicate sorrow, and freedom. It was developed because the known name of my primary source is called the Cooktown orchid. I wanted to use the name as an opportunity to represent colonisation through symbolism and codes. Though the flower represents colonisation in this piece, I also wanted to use the flower to represent the beginning of a new era, where aboriginal people are moving out of the darkness of colonisation and feeling the freedom that they longed for. I used water drops as symbolism of the end of a rainstorm, the remnants of which is left drying on the flower. I also wanted to make it appear that the flower is glowing to symbolise light and freedom. Finally, I used yarning circles in the background of the piece to represent aboriginal communities and the importance of the Dendrobium Bigibbum the scientific name of the cooktown orchid to them.
