FOR MY NEW WEBSITE ... GO TO www.sylvia-serville.com
'Acid-rain and Boomerangs' (above) is a Graphite drawing about the British Atom Bomb tests done on Aboriginal lands around Maralinga in South Australia in the 1950s. It is one of three such drawings which toured Australia with the RAKA Award exhibition in 2005 (an exhibition of 13 Indigenous artist's work from around Australia) ALL GRAPHITE DRAWINGS ON THIS SITE BELONG TO MY 'EYES OF A NATION' SERIES-a 40 strong body of works ( graphite on paper) shown at Perth's 'Indigenart' (The Mossenson Galleries) in 2002.
(via University of South Australia and Curtin University in Western Australia), which later morphed into a study for a Fine Arts Degree (completed in 2007) . I began to document my Aboriginal journey of discovery on canvas and joined the growing number of Indigenous artists in Australia. My work dealt mainly with the whole 'Stolen Generation' saga ( this was because some members of our family believed that my Great Grandmother was one of the 'Stolen Generation').In 2006, a cousin, in touch with a professional genealogist, was tracing the family tree, and sent me documented proof, of my family's origins . Imagine my complete shock to discover that my Great Grandmother was not Aboriginal at all !!!!...It appears that her father, who arrived in Tasmania as a sailor, had been born in Bermuda.He was descended from Native American slaves taken from around the New York area to work the Bermudian Salt Harvesting industry. He also had African blood as well (from inter-action with slaves taken to Bermuda from Africa)...So...now that I find that I, and my family, am no longer Aboriginal, I have had to deal with a major identity crisis, whilst contemplating the ethical dilema of calling myself an Australian Aboriginal artist...which I am now clearly NOT...Some people have suggested that I keep my non-Aboriginality quiet and just keep painting....but morally I could not do such a thing...Currently I am seeking new projects and am pondering different avenues to explore creatively........in the meantime, I have had the opportunity to reflect on the awesome friends that I have met along the way (with special mention of the Tweed Valley Aboriginal Artists from the Bundjalung Nation, who were so concerned that I was going to stop painting things Aboriginal, that they offered to adopt me into their clan, if it would help).
Recently, I began a new series of non-Aboriginal works dealing with the inward review one makes of one's life from time to time.. The working title for the new series is 'Day of Reckoning'.
BEYOND REDEMPTION - (Below)
Here an old man looks back on his childhood, to the different personalities (including his ‘dark’ side), that he holds within himself. He also ponders the many times that he sought divine help to become a better person and to the times where he has been knocked, or judged, (often unjustly) by people throughout his life (the ‘knockers’ are represented by the hens, whose accusing stares help represent these judgments ). His pending death is represented by the weeping statue and the arrow pointing to the ‘EXIT’. The text (in copper relief ( and only discernable at close range), is a scripture from the Old Testament :
When I was a child,
I spoke as a child,
I understood as a child,
I thought as a child,
but when I became a man,
I put away childish things
BOOK OF LIFE - (Below)
Above: This child's dreams depict aspects of his life prior to having the books opened on 'Judgement Day'.
I am not sure what my next painting in this series will be...but WATCH THIS SPACE !!!!
BELOW : Photo taken of me in my Brisbane studio last year with ANCESTRAL ROOTS'
This painting (above) draws on the ancestry of my New Zealand Maori husband and children...The Maori text in the painting 'Kotahi i Tangata Katoa' means 'All one people'...and reflects the changing era that we live in where inter-marriage is fast producing bi-cultural aspects to indigenous races. This can be a positive or a negative thing, but whatever the outcome, this mingling of bloods is a reality which is here to stay.Without making judgements, this painting simply comments on that reality.
This painting, entitled 'Sorry Business' won 'Special Runner-up' in the 2003 Perth Royal Show's Art Awards . It is a comment on Australian Prime Minister, John Howard's refusal to apologize to the 'Stolen Generation' (photo taken in my Perth studio- 2003). 
