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Gosha Heldtz

@ owiebuh
true blue

Gosha Heldtz, true blue (2024), mixed media: a series of paintings on cardboard that are installed onto a flat wall. Portrait dimensions: w: 51 x h: 64 cm (3 paintings). Flag dimensions: w: 90 x h: 46cm (2 paintings). All installed with nails.
Blue, red, and white: the colours of the Australian flag that define a nation, and stain my childhood. These colours and stars are ever-present, hovering above pubs, filling cheap shops, and surrounding historical monuments. Growing up in rural Australia, I became all too familiar with that blue starry flag and the colonial imagery that came with it. It was everywhere-flown in neighbor's backyards, on mates utes, at school events, and especially on January 26th. Australian patriotic identity wassomething I was forced to coexist with for many years. In response to this year's theme of Alchemy, I reflect on the transformative potential of art to expose and reframe these symbols, revealing the underlying impact they preserve. My work 'True Blue' explores the tension between Indigenous bodies and these 'Australian' symbols, which supposedly represent us all.

Through my work, I reframe these symbols, exposing the influence they've had on me, often as the only Aboriginal person in many spaces. I use lo-fi mediums such as cardboard and street art techniques to transform everyday materials into forms of resistance and protest. This choice reflects my aim to shift symbols of national identity from revered emblems into objects of critique and reflection. By deconstructing these icons, I question their validity as representations for anyone other than the white man. By altering their context and form, I aim to reveal the layers of trauma and assimilation ideologies they continue to perpetuate.