Acknowledgment of Country

Not long after World War II, my grandmother left Holland and sailed to Australia. That was our family’s sliding door moment. My grandparents settled with several Dutch families in Wollongong’s Northern Suburbs, and my mother was the firstborn child of four.

What my family didn’t comprehend at the time was that this place - Dharawal Country - had already been inhabited for thousands of years, and so they obliviously joined a long list of invaders.

I cannot claim to have the depth of connection to this land as that of the First Nation’s People of Dharawal Country, and I extend my deepest respect and admiration to their Elders, past, present, and emerging.

I chose White Clay Mountain as the name for my passion project because it is one interpretation of the name Illawarra*, the life and landscape that inspires my art.

So here I am, a white person, exploring the meaning of this place hundreds of years after the first white people invaded… but with an open heart, deep gratitude, and genuine love and care for my birthplace and its Traditional Owners.

*Illawarra Range, Geographical Names Register of NSW, Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, 2013