Soul Fish
Date1985
Object number00004613
NameAquatint
MediumAcquatint on paper
DimensionsOverall: 565 × 380 mm, 0.1 kg
Image: 375 × 195 mm
Copyright© Fiona Foley
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionAn aquatint by Dr Fiona Foley titled 'Soul fish'. The image depicts an outstreched hand and a fossilised fish. Print number 6/10.
This work represents the longevity of the Badtjala people to their country K'gari. The connection, like the ancient fossils shown in the image, is deep in the rocks and part of the history of the land, existing long before the arrival of Europeans
Dr Foley is from the Wondunna clan of the Badtjala nation on K’gari (Fraser Island) and a founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co-operative.HistoryThis is an early work by Dr Foley made while still a student and just prior to the formation of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co-operative in 1987. This work represents the longevity of the Badtjala people to their country K'gari. The connection, like the ancient fossils shown in the image, is deep in the rocks and part of the history of the land, existing long before the arrival of Europeans. In 1995, Dr Foley moved to Hervey Bay and worked with her mother, Shirley Foley, to establish the Badtjala people’s native title claim to land on K'gari, which was awarded in 2014.
Foley's later works would expand to address a range of issues concerning the significance of Australia’s colonial histories exploring a broad range of themes that relate to frontier violence, race relations, sexuality, and the history of opium in Queensland.
It is an important part of Dr Foley's work that it continues to confront and educate the wider Australian community to parts our history that have long been ignored or deliberately overlooked. Colonial massacres, Government policies to indigenous people and ongoing land rights are brought into the public space through her work.
SignificanceDr Fiona Foley is an Badtjala activist, curator, writer, painter, printmaker, photographer, sculptor and installation artist. This early work is significant in representing the influence of K’gari on Foley's work and her connection and commitment to her homeland in addressing land rights issues that exist there.
