Patrice Renee ‘Muthaymiles’ Mahoney OAM Born in Canberra on Melbourne Cup Day, Tuesday, 4 November 1975 the second child to a young single mum on the lands of the Ngunnawal. I spent my childhood in Aniwain lands, Armidale, New South Wales, with my older sister and younger brother. A mum at 16 years, and now a proud mother of five children and two gorgeous granddaughters. Growing up in Armidale, NSW, my maternal family is from Moych country, Uralla. Art provided a moment in my day for focus and silence. Art has always been a companion to my advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture. I am an artist who believes that art and education are the foundation of identity, self-determination, and leadership. I’m profoundly influenced by a sense of space, place, and the environment. I take great inspiration from the natural environment, especially living here on the land of the Bunurung. I see the benefit of being creative in challenging current relationships between First Peoples and the broader community. I enjoy drawing, painting, weaving, assemblage from found objects, and printmaking. My practice and epistemological journey led me through a philosophical exploration of how we, as individuals and families, sit in nature as part of her world. My work is rooted in a multidisciplinary approach that expands my knowledge through my mixed-cultural heritage and traditional ways of learning, including winanga-li (deep listening). Since 2005, my work has been displayed in numerous solo exhibitions in regional Victoria. It is also held in private and public collections in Victoria, New South Wales, and internationally. In 2014, winning the Victorian Indigenous Arts Awards (VIAA) for Works on Paper and the Acquisitive Award (Federation University) embraced a sense of belonging in Victoria. Since 2010, my group work has facilitated workshops with families to express culture visually through community publishing in numerous communities. ‘Fun in Water’ (Casey Aboriginal Gathering Place Playgroup) and shortlisted for the ‘Book of the Year– Indigenous’, a Speech Pathology Australia Award in 2018. Other group works include community publications in the language for the Dandenong Best Start and HIPPY programs, as well as a particular book, ‘Who is your mob?’ for the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Many other community publications have Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander content for hospitals, playgroups, and schools, particularly throughout South Gippsland and Bass Coast. Exhibitions include the 2015 International Print Exchange, Boulder University, Colorado, USA, the Monash University Collection, and the 2nd and 7th Koorie Art Show at the Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne. Awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020 for service to the Indigenous community, and in 2022, Inducted into the Aboriginal Honour for my work in Advocacy and the Arts in the State of Victoria. A desire for change fuels my passion, which is made inclusive through art, culture, and knowledge sharing via narrative and storytelling.
