Thomas Readett is an Established Artist and a Ngarrindjeri man who was born and raised on Kaurna Country (Adelaide, SA) where he continues to practice and live. Thomas’ practice spans drawing, painting ,video, music, advocacy and education.
In this work Readett explores the real-life experience of being a First Nations person and tracing back family histories in 2023. Most Aboriginal families live with an ongoing identity crisis which has spilled over post colonisation, this event and the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from communities (such as the Stolen Generation) has left holes in families both literally and emotionally. These displacements leave the younger generations to piece together these lost histories and family members, making it hard to fully understand their own story. The images depicted in Readetts work are fractured and displaced like his Grandma's history which he is currently tracing, these somewhat broken and flailing images show snapshots of family and place from Ngarrindjeri country to Arrernte country.
Readett uses the exact iconography of popular video game Tetris which was developed in 1984. He uses the meaning of this pop culture reference of pieces falling into place and connecting to win the game, in the game you attach multiple pieces of the same colour to win and continue, in Readetts work the pieces are all in greys, meaning these histories may never line up and are much harder to "fit into place".
Thomas Readett, Acrylic, aerosol and oils on board, various dimensions, 2023, supported by & created within the Gawler Fringe Artist Residency.
