IN 1958 Sandra Hill and her three siblings were taken from their parents and placed in Sister Kate’s Orphanage for Aboriginal children.
Hill and her siblings wouldn’t see their parents for another 27 years, their sense of loss compounded by their treatment at the hands of nuns she remembers as “cruel” and “savage”.
It was during her time at the orphanage that Hill turned to art to help her through.
“We had to go to church every morning before school, and there was this beautiful angel painting on the wall,” she said.
“That was the only thing I could cling to in that place.
“When I went to a foster family they gave me pencils and paper, and I tried to recreate it.
“That painting really saved me from living a life of hatred and anger, of alienation.”
More than half a century later, her work has been exhibited around the world, and earlier this month one of her pieces, Broken Shield was crowned winner of the $10,000 Bindjareb Art Award, a prize that recognises the artwork of contemporary Noongar artists.
Hill said Broken Shield represented an Aboriginal culture broken by colonialisation, partly through the forced separation of families such as her own.
“The broken shield represents the fact our shields used to protect our bodies, but also it was a symbol of protecting our lands, our community, our kinship,” she said.
“I was taken in 1958 and I’ve had to fight and struggle and reclaim my heritage and my culture, myself, really.
“I find through my art I can generate interest for people to find out what the reality was for Indigenous families, because so many don’t have a voice.”
The Binjareb Art Award, a partnership between the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, the City of Mandurah and curator Karrie-Anne Kearing, holds a special meaning for Hill.
“I’ve got a real soft spot for Mandurah,” Hill said.
“My foster family used to spend lots of time there on holidays and my foster mum lived down there.”
Sandra Hill’s work will be on show at the Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery until August 7.