Ben McKeown.

Dig Deeper

Directed by Mark Street
Produced by Fiona Cochrane

Four divergent Aboriginal artists use their personal stories and historical injustice as a driving force to break through and create internationally recognised urban art.

“Ben’s painting I Wonder! asks what it was like for one side of his family, as colonizers, to be in part responsible for the displacement of the other side of his family? This question was quite stunning.”

Article by Mark Street

The idea to make Dig Deeper began when I interviewed artist Ben McKeown for my previous film, Can Art Stop a Bullet?.

Ben’s painting I Wonder! asks what it was like for one side of his family, as colonizers, to be in part responsible for the displacement of the other side of his family? This question was quite stunning. As obvious as it sounds, I had never really thought about that concept. So that lead me to want to find out how he dealt with his dual heritage through his art.

So, the film digs deeper into the lives of four unique and diverse Indigenous artists. Blak Douglas was interested to be a part of it, which was incredible as he is such an inspired speaker but he also went on to win the Archibald prize.

Maree Clarke could be called a cultural activist and artist. Her work is centred around regenerating traditional practices that were lost as a consequence of colonisation. And I really wanted Penny Evans to join the quartet after seeing her work and hearing her talk about the trauma she had experienced growing up dealing with her dual heritage.

They all had common motivating themes, their art, their Aboriginality and their dual heritage. Questions were raised like how do you talk about the things that have happened to you and from your history? Are you angry? Does it stir passion and emotion in your work? Can you engage in a deeper, more fundamental way and focus more on the regeneration of cultural practices?

This is a time where indigenous contemporary art is having massive exposure as art agent Damien Minton says, “It’s one of the biggest stories in the whole globe in the mid-20^th century” but the curator of the National Indigenous Art Triennial, Hetti Perkins adds, “What’s often missing is the understanding or hearing of what the artists are saying in their works.”

Penny Evans.

While Blak Douglas wins the Archibald Prize, Maree Clarke works on the biggest urban art installation in Australia, the Melbourne Metro tunnel project, and Penny Evans’ major work opens at the National Gallery of Australia, Ben McKeown’s story has a different perspective. Ben’s heart attack took him away from the centre of the Melbourne art scene just as he was making an impression, and it has been hard to get back in. He is writing a PHD while living on country and using the clay there to create sculptures for the Selzer Prize.

“I’ve survived three heart problems now and you’re here for a reason, and I think this is the reason.”

Ben and Maree are gentle souls while Blak and Penny are more like provocateurs. As Blak says, “I reel people in because of the aesthetic and colours in my paintings, but when they come up to look closer, all of a sudden the black fist comes out of the canvas and smacks them in the face.”

Whereas Maree’s Ritual and Ceremony exhibition at the NGV focuses on regenerating what has been lost or forgotten. She’s a gentle soul making her work, subtly effecting people’s perceptions.

“I’m always thinking about new ways of telling stories through art.”

It was a great honour to work with these artists who gave so generously. The film took a couple of years to make due to the difficulties with travel during COVID.

We interviewed Penny Evans in Lismore two days before the severe floods wiped the town away. Blak Douglas’s portrait of Lismore artist Karla Dickens won the Archibald. Maree Clarke’s exhibition Ritual and Ceremony features a portrait of Ben McKeown. Ben now lives on a small property near Oyster Bay in South Australia where we filmed him with his possum skin cloak and jewel encrusted crown wandering the hills at sunset. Penny is on a mission to reset the balance of the environment on country. Her struggle now is not just about herself.

Dig Deeper will screen online at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival from 1 – 31 July. Details here. Dig Deeper will screen in cinema at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival on Friday, 21 July. Details here.