Zak Tilley is an artist who works on the unceded lands of the Arrernte people in the Northern Territory. His practice is concerned with how one relates and identifies with the natural environment, and specifically the Australian Landscape, through a settler lens.
During his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The College of Fine Arts, UNSW, Sydney, Zak majored in Drawing and Painting but mostly produced mixed media paintings, dyed and embroidered textiles, sculptures and ceramics.
“My work is a critical analysis and personal investigation of my relationship with the Australian landscape.
Over time my paintings have become more critical of my relationship with the landscape; consciously navigating the complexities around it – I explore a land which has a history of neglect, abuse and cultural removal from its traditional owners and custodians, this is intertwined with my settler heritage.
My practice is a constant journey of processing fables of Australian identity and exploring his own interwoven relationship between place and practice. It is through exploring and representing my surroundings that I am able to confront, critique and process inner conflicts, which embody ideas of identity, belonging, and otherness against an intimate but necessarily colonial relationship with the Australian landscape, as I attempt to sensitively and respectfully work on Aboriginal land.”
Zak has held numerous solo and group exhibitions with Otomys in Melbourne and Martin Browne Contemporary and aMBUSH in Sydney.
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