Marie Florence began painting at 50 and as an Aboriginal artist, felt that she had to use traditional colours. She decided that she wanted to break with tradition and experimenting with colour is one of the many passions that drive her as an artist.
Marie’s painting Restriction = Loss of Freedom was last week awarded the Aboriginal Art Prize in the 2010 Coraki Art Prize.
Marie, a Bundjalung woman, spent some of her childhood on the mission at Cubawee and her prize-winning work is about life on the mish, a word that Marie said Aboriginal people have taken ownership of to take back some of the power taken from them.
Restriction = Loss of Freedom is both beautiful and confronting.
