The grandson of Dulcie (Dolly) Mullett and Watson Pepper, Ronald Edwards Pepper is a proud Gunai man. His family moved from Lake Tyers Mission to Morwell in the 1960s.
Since graduating from Federation University with a Bachelor of Visual and Media Arts in 2017, Ronald has completed several commissions and participated in numerous exhibitions in Australia and overseas. Ronald primarily paints in acrylics on canvas, sometimes incorporating ochre into his work. He also enjoys experimenting with non-traditional materials such as neon and glow in the dark paint.
This work was delivered by the Metro Tunnel Creative Program to celebrate YIRRAMBOI Festival.
On the large-scale piece, Ronald explains that “When Aboriginal people see footprints on the land, they know who has walked there before them. We use footprints in our artwork to show people walking on Country, being connected to it, [and] learning to look after it in sustainable ways. I incorporate the traditional lines of Gippsland into my paintings…
“I use ceremony and art to show that I belong to the Country. It is through them that I tell my stories.”
“I use ceremony and art to show that I belong to the Country..."
—
Gippslandia - Issue No. 21
More in
Read this next
Artist FeatureCulture
Where the Land Lies.
A meaningful exchange with community Elders assisted Jo Scicluna in determining which... Read more