CONTENT NOTE: reference to gender-based violence.
This work was created on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation.
I’m not the first, nor am I the last.
In my lineage—
I’m not the first artist, nor will I be the last.
I’m not the first queer, nor will I be the last.
I’m not the first dyslexic, nor will I be the last.
I’m not the first activist, nor will I be the last.
I’m not the first to immigrate, nor will I be the last.
I’m not the first to survive rape, .
I’m not the first to be depressed, nor will I be the last.
I’m not the first to love, nor will I be the last.
Tatia means my mama’s mama*
I’m not the first is a conversation between me, my mama, and my Tatia. When I held my Tatia’s paintbrushes in my hand and found my mama’s photographs as reference, the series began. All I could feel was the presence of passed-down skills and artistry from my Tatia, because, in a way, I was made in her—my mother’s eggs were created within my Tatia, a physical link that binds us across time.
My paintings speak to material agency—how materials, objects, and even our bodies hold memory. Is my body a form of matter holding the memories and creativity of those who came before me? These works explore the tension between what I consciously choose to create and what was already within me—the memories, the stories, and the knowing I inherited.
There are some things in my work that I didn’t choose—elements that arrived through the act of making itself. There were moments of surrender, where the painting led me rather than the other way around. It’s a balance between control and release, between honouring what was passed down and forging something new.
At its core, this project reflects a personal autoethnography, merging the temporality of memory and the fluidity of identity. By linking past and present, it brings into focus the emotional resonance of connection—whether it’s to family, community, or the land we stand on. It’s an invitation to reflect, to suspend certainty, and to acknowledge the stories we carry within us, even those we didn’t choose.
