The truth is, It’s far easier for me to address this cancer inside of me and RESET my own body, than it is to address the cancer of racism, bigotry and dismissiveness that I’ve been forced to grow up with.
Artist Statement
In Bard, Jawi Lore, Guwan (plain pearl shells) are the cast-off scales of our creation spirit as it burst out of the ocean and crashed upon the rocky shore of our saltwater Buru, north of Broome, Western Australia. When Guwan is shaped and carved, they then become Riji. This is where they are charged with purpose and power, and given their spiritual significance through Lore and our creation stories. At their simplest they represent the incredible gift of life.
The Skull and Cross bones on this Riji represent the chemo as a poison, but also they speak to the fact that my own long bones and skull, are some of the key blood-making bones that were compromised by my cancer (Myeloma), one that takes key white plasma cells and turns them rogue, so that they stop working with my blood and immune system and then turn against it, breaking down my bones and robbing my blood of its life-giving goodness.
This cancer undermines all of who I could be, right at the most basic level of what makes me well, healthy, whole and purposeful. Without my blood and bones doing what they’re designed for, the very foundation of my body can be completely undone – bit by intimate bit – where it can no longer sustain itself in any meaningful way.
And all of this – as it impacts on my body – just reminds me that I live in a society built by colonisation and racism. Where white masters have decided who we should be, shaped how we govern and deliver laws, dispossed Aboriginal peoples of their land, law and culture and have murdered them, by the tens of thousands.
The resulting society we live in now, suffers racism like a cancer. White members of our society carry the ability to turn rogue and are fueled by their own ancestry, to keep undoing the opportunities we have, of becoming a good, strong and healthy society, for all Australians.
Since stepping out into my own personal cancer journey and the long road if recovery that’s come with it, I can’t help but wonder what our society would be like if we could turn off this racism, in the same way that the chemo ‘turned off’ the cancer in my immune and blood system.Who would we be as Australians, if we could shut down that racism and then turn it back on again?
After the chemo shut down my body’s immune system and killed all the cancer it could, my own harvested stemcells were reintroduced to me through a transplant, with one sole purpose: to turn my immune system back on again, thus resetting my whole body, so it can grow well and re-establish itself.
As I was recovering, I had a hell of a lot of time to think on the racism in this country. Even more so after last year’s referendum and the ‘games played’ with our Aboriginal and Islander lives once again. I’ve imagined a “have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?”, scenario for a long time, wondering what we could target in our society, to give us all, the best possible chance needed.
The truth is, It’s far easier for me to address this cancer inside of me and RESET my own body, than it is to address the cancer of racism, bigotry and dismissiveness that I’ve been forced to grow up with, that affects all the people I love and care for, no matter what kind of Australian they may be.
There is no WANT at all the right levels of our society to address this need for who we are as Australians. I’ve always known this truth (often, quite violently) and this just makes me cry at times for the heart-rending loss that this is, for ALL of us in this big, big country.
Biography
Ron Bradfield Jnr is a Bard, Jawi man of the saltwater peoples around Djarindjin, Western Australia. Born in Mooniemia (Northampton), he grew up in Jambinu (Geraldton), but now calls Walyalup (Fremantle) his home.
As the CYO of Yarns R Us, Ron supports artists, arts professionals, arts organisations and institutions across Australia and overseas and is currently the Community Engagement Facilitator, with the John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University.
As a storyteller and artist, Ron tells and makes stories that unpick his own personal experiences surviving our society and what it is to be ‘Australian’. As the eldest son of a Stolen Generations mother, Ron presents stories of himself as a child, as an adult and as an ex-serving member, of the Australian Defence Force.
Tapping into the physical memories of a time past through the use of familiar objects and Australian culture markers, Ron retells his stories, challenging today’s Australians about how they remember the places they grew up in and the experiences they had, well away from the reality of Aboriginal and Islander peoples.
Connect
Instagram: @ronbjnr_artist
Instagram: @yarns_r_us
Instagram: @ronbjnr
In Bard, Jawi Lore, Guwan (plain pearl shells) are the cast-off scales of our creation spirit as it burst out of the ocean and crashed upon the rocky shore of our saltwater Buru, north of Broome, Western Australia.
list of works
1
Ron Bradfield Jnr
RESET
2024.
Pearl shell, red ochre.
25cm x 10cm
$4,300
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When Guwan is shaped and carved, they then become Riji. This is where they are charged with purpose and power, and given their spiritual significance through Lore and our creation stories. At their simplest they represent the incredible gift of life.
Artwork