Aboriginal Art Co. hosted its first event in a new space in West End with the launch of Gungarri artist Desirai Saunders' debut solo exhibition, 'Tip the Bucket'.
The opening event on 6 February acted as a soft launch for the yet-to-be-opened venue, inviting community members and fans into the space ahead of its official opening later this year.
Ms Saunders' 'Tip the Bucket' is the first exhibition of the year for Aboriginal Art Co. and marks her contribution as the 2025 Artist-in-Residence.
The exhibition draws on the metaphor of the Murri Crab Bucket to examine internalised survival behaviours within First Nations communities, shaped by colonisation and systems of scarcity.
The show includes digital illustrations, cut-out acrylic works on plywood and an interactive animation piece.
Ms Saunders said the title concept reinterprets the "crab bucket" analogy through a First Nations lens.
"'Tip the Bucket' explores the metaphor of the Murri Crab Bucket which is similar to the tall poppy syndrome but through a First Nations lens," she said.
"It's an observation about the metaphor and ways that we could tip the bucket essentially."
The exhibition marks a turning point in her artistic career.
"With this show I really got to explore different themes in a bit more depth, play with colour... play with medium as well," Ms Saunders said.
"It was really fun to challenge myself and push myself professionally in my practice as well."
The works in the exhibition were developed during her Safe Space Artist Residency at Aboriginal Art Co. last year, with some pieces experimenting with new techniques.
"I'm predominantly a digital illustration artist and I specialise in character art but for this show I got the opportunity to explore a couple of different mediums," she said.
"I have some acrylic on plywood cutouts and also animation that I dabbled in."
One of the works, titled 'How Do You Engage?', invites viewers to reflect on their behaviour online.
"So it explores how we might engage with the metaphor through social media," Ms Saunders said.
"It's a play on the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil... this is an interactive work that people can choose how they might engage with this online."
The artist is now focused on future projects, including the development of a graphic novel.
"I'm actually currently working on my own graphic novel that I'll be authoring and illustrating... so hopefully that will be coming, maybe not 2026 but maybe 2027," she said.
An artist talk will be held on Thursday 12 February at 5.30pm at Aboriginal Art Co., located at 1/23 Anthony Street, West End.
