Summary: I had the honor of talking to Darwin-based artist Joshua Bonson, the winner of the Togart Contemporary Art Award, an annual prize recognising Northern Territory art as well as the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA).Joshua has been involved in various art organisations within the local community including Darwin Visual Arts Association, GRIND Youth Paper, Centre for Contemporary Art, CDU Visual Arts and the Darwin Festival. Within the Darwin Visual Arts Association and the Darwin Festival, he has also assisted local artists to hang their exhibitions, and provided advice to young emerging artists to improve their ideas and art practice with the hope to encourage them to enter the national market.The list of his practice and achievements goes on and on but what I discussed mainly with young talented Joshua was story of his creativity, the cultural connection and significance behind his vivid abstract paintings. My curiousity sparked when I saw an article in Nowra news where he talks about his crocodile skin inspired work ( his totem) and the way his work links closely with spirituality and stories of land. Utterly inspiring and refreshing!- Are you curious what a true creative freedoms feels like?- What is like for a young Aboroginal artist to find his cultural and creative identity?- Story of the stollen generation and the misconceptions of beautiful Aboriginal culture.- Succesfull and famous, what's next?
