Neighbourhoods F – 1 : Self Portraiture
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‘Animals are my friends; they come to me in my dreams’
Trevor Turbo Brown, 2012.
Vibrant painting ‘Self-Portrait, ‘I am a Dingo Spirit,’ created by Latje Latje artist Trevor Turbo Brown (1967- 2017) provided an inspirational start to the term for NF-1 students to explore the concept of self-portraiture and to consider what sort of visual statements they can present about themselves.
Trevor Turbo Brown painted birds and animals with directness, energy and colour. Turbo explained this related to a time when he was living on the streets in Mildura on the banks of the Murray River, at the time the animals were his only friends (NGV 2024).
‘Turbo’s art shares his experiences, observations and reminds us to look closely at our environment and at each other, be strong, be kind and most of all, listen to the animals’ (NGV 2024).
Students considered their own characteristics and ways of being as they explored the colours, symbolism and playful artistic style used by Turbo to express his identity and culture. They considered animals they personally identify with to express their identity and personality and created preliminary drawings for their self-portrait project.
‘Like meerkats I love to hang out with my family and I’m cautious like a meerkat looking out for predators’
Leon.
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