I am very proud to have in the colonial cocktail of my blood, connections to Australia’s First Nations on both sides of my family.

Darug Boorooberongal

This heritage is from my mother’s side and connects me all the way back to Maria Lock who was a trailblazing and remarkable indigenous woman of the early Sydney colonial period. The Boorooberongal clan group ‘belonging to the kangaroo’ from the Richmond area.

Badtjala

This heritage is from my father’s side, the people from K’gari and surrounding shoreline. There were three clan groups but I haven’t been able to ascertain which our family is connected to. Our forebear was a woman named Lappy Aldridge (née Tanner) of Badtjala and South Sea Islander descent.

Gamilaroi

I spent my primary school years in the town of Coonamble out on New South Wales central plains. Gamilaroi Country.

Bundjalung

I was born in Lismore, NSW and have spent much of my life on Bundjalung Country.

Yugambeh - Kombumerri

I presently reside and make my work on Yugambeh Country, the lands of the Kombumerri families, the southern Gold Coast.