Get to Know Luke Mallie

Interviews

Introducing the Mualgal Collection from Luke Mallie

Sophia Houston

December 8th, 2022

We are super excited to be working with Luke Mallie on the Mualgal collection, a tribute to the Torres Strait Islands! Luke is a Kuku Yalanji and Mualgal artist born in Brisbane and he has been a collaborating artist with Yarn for a while now. We wanted to get to know him a little bit better and let you learn more about the inspirations behind this collection!

Luke Mallie was born in Brisbane and spent a lot of time in Mackay, going to school in both places. He spent 15 years in Mackay after he finished art college in Brisbane and his daughter was born there. He has also lived in Cairns and more recently, the Gold Coast.


He has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage from his mum and dad. His mum is from the Kuku Yalanji people in the Mossman area north of Cairns and his dad is from the Mualgal people on Moa Island in the Torres Strait Islands.

When did you first begin painting?


I’ve been drawing since I was a small child and painting once I started school, so well over 20 years experience.


I honed my craft when I studied at art college and majored in painting and then went on to complete a Bachelor of Multimedia Studies so I could use digital programs and wasn’t limited to traditional mediums.


The digital format is exciting because it allows you to create and enhance artwork with technology on a global scale, the universality of this format has infinite possibilities on a universal level. I look forward to the future advancements in art methods, to combine with traditional painting so you are brought back to earth and connect to the old ways with innovative practices


Where do you find inspiration for your artworks?


I find inspiration from:

My rich Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture,

The bright colours of the tropics

The intense greens of the Daintree rainforest

The deep blues and turquoise of the Torres Strait Islands

Funky modern designs of popular culture

New innovative artists

Old traditional Aboriginal artists

European masters

Modern architecture and automotive designs

When did you realise you wanted to develop a career in visual art?


I’ve tried all types of other jobs from government office jobs to swinging hammers working on the railway and digging ditches for Telstra but I’ve always loved creating art so I started looking at what types of art jobs I could do…


I had work experience for some top advertising agencies around Brisbane and thought I could be a graphic designer but I also loved painting so that’s why I went to art college and majored in painting and university to study multimedia studies to create digital art.


When I won the national NAIDOC poster award in 2009 I realised that I could make a career in creating art and showcasing my culture. It gives joy to others, and I aim to share the beauty of my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture with as many people as I could, and when I started, the best way was to create murals, so I painted a lot of murals in schools.


How does creating art help you connect with your Country and culture?


Living in South East Queensland I don’t get much of a chance to get up north to my mum and dad's country but I love sharing my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture with others and in my art I show it by creating bright and colourful paintings so people are excited when they see the artworks.


I consider myself as a visual storyteller, it’s a way I can share my culture with others who may not know much about Indigenous culture so my artwork might spark an interest in them to learn more about it. I connect to country and culture by making art to tell stories through the colours, textures and visual representations of home.


What has been the highlight of your artist journey so far?

There have been many great moments in my art career, winning the NAIDOC poster competition in 2009 was a wonderful catalyst in moving my practice forward and more recently I was so excited to work with Netflix to create Rainbow Serpent Dreaming artwork for the International campaign of NAIDOC programs this year.

How was your experience working with Netflix for NAIDOC?

Working with Netflix was a fantastic opportunity to put my artwork on an international televised platform. Working with professional design teams from New York, Palm Springs and LA was an awesome experience. I was able to capitalise on the collaboration with high level experts in the digital artwork space and use my own creative energy in an exciting new global forum. This experience has generated new opportunities for me to expand my practice in new and diverse ways

You’ve created so many fantastic murals, what has been your favourite one to work on?


One of my favourite murals was a recent project for Sunshine Coast Council in Caloundra. This was a very large scale mural on the Caloundra Transit Centre. I used a different technique to my usual murals and was so happy with the results.


A contemporary style grounded with traditional renditions of local marine life culminated in a striking mural with a vibrant colour scheme of deep blue and white. While there were some challenges with the location, weather and a tight timeframe, I was able to work with some great locals to bring my vision to life in a new and exciting way for the whole community to enjoy for many years to come.


Picture courtesy of Caloundra Regional Gallery

What has been the best part of working with Yarn so far?


The best part is seeing other people wearing my products and sometimes I’ll say something like “nice shirt” and “that’s my artwork”.


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