Chern’ee Sutton may now live in Bundaberg but she is intensely proud of her Mount Isa birthplace and her Kalkadoon heritage.
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She was back in town for the recent James Cook University Are You Remotely Interested conference.
There she helped launch a new JCU online initiative designed to help close the gap with the help of one of her paintings which will form the banner for a new web page on JCU’s Generalist Medical Training site.
But while she was here she also caught up with family and she also did talks with art students at local schools and Mount Isa remains a muse for the talented artist.
“Every time I come back to Mount Isa or go out on country I get a lot of inspiration from up here and do some really great artwork,” Chern’ee said.
“I love to express myself and my culture through my art and share it with the world.”
Chern’ee said art was always a passion since she was a little girl.
“Mum and dad always encouraged me to express myself through art, I used to create birthday cards and Christmas cards,” she said.
“And when I was in year 1 I used to hold drawing classes with all my friends.”
Chern’ee said her love of art got more serious when she turned 13 not long after the family moved to Bundaberg.
“I entered an art competition and I was lucky enough to win and that sparked my passion and it snowballed from there,” she said.
Now her art drapes walls of important buildings around the world – including Buckingham Palace.
“I was lucky enough to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in their 2014 royal visit,” she said. “I gave them a painting and shortly after I got a letter saying than you very much for your piece it is now hanging in the royal collection.”
Her work is also highly prized in the field of sport.
In 2016 she was asked to design the NRL Indigenous All Stars jerseys and merchandise.
“It was a highlight to see the men’s and women’s Indigenous All Stars running out onto the field wearing my designs,” Chern’ee said.
And this year she designed a 12m mural for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games athletes village.
The artwork called “Caina Putut, Ilya, Wartanganha” means in the Kalkadoon language “Long ago, Today, Tomorrow.”
“I like to combine my two worlds in my artwork, my traditional Aboriginal heritage and a modern contemporary twist” she said.
“One thing I do paint a lot about is reconciliation, Closing the Gap and everyone moving forward together.”
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