The work of digital-illustrative artist, Dylan Mooney is breathtaking in its ability to connect audiences to multilayered representations of First Nations, Australian South Sea Islander and Queer communities. Mooney’s work depicts visions from a lived reality, to reflecting on stories of the past and then dreaming of the future. Mooney’s connection to country and family informs both his creative practice and final works, his talents have led him to commission projects for Google; Australian Rolling Stones Magazine; and to be exhibited across Queensland. In this interview, Mooney shares how identity, history and community inspires his work and arts practice.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative practice.
My name is Dylan Mooney I am a proud Yuwi man from Mackay in North Queensland and the Torres Strait Islands. My family come from Erub Island of the Meriam nation and the South Sea Islands.
How did you start your creative practice and why?
I first started in high school and really loved art and then took it on outside of school where I was taught portraiture in private lessons. So, that’s where my love of portraiture came from and after I finished school I went on to university where I studied a Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art. Learning about my culture, my history and the different art courses really helped set the foundation for my art practice.
Where did you grow up and has it influenced what you create?
I grew up in Mackay, North Queensland where my family is from and it has influenced me a lot -seeing my family on a regular basis, having conversations, listening to my elders’ stories and my community. These things have really shaped the meaning behind my work, the stories I want to tell and the messages I want to put forward to our next generation.
Tell us about your past creative projects. What has been a highlight so far?
I have had the chance to travel to Arnhem Land, Thursday Island and Charleville to engage with community and work with our youth on murals, which has been pretty special for me. Connecting with mob and sharing stories and giving these young ones the opportunity to tell their stories.
I was commissioned by Google to create the Google Doodle which honoured Aunty Pearl Gibb’s 120th Birthday. I then had the chance to design the front cover for the Rolling Stone Australia Magazine.
Who or what inspires your practice?
My culture, my history and the people that surround me are my biggest inspirations. My family, close friends and my community – hearing their stories, what they are doing and the impacts they make is inspiring to me.
Where do you feel most creative?
I feel most creative being back home on country, with my family and friends. Being able to share my thoughts and ideas with them is a beautiful way to come up with ways to convey my work, what I want to create (if it’s new work) and what messages I want to share with people.
What gets you through challenging creative/ industry times?
For me it’s putting on my headphones, listening to music and also researching more whether it be on my computer or heading to the State Library to look through archival documents. This really helps me get back into the creative mood, it always reminds me why I’m doing what I’m doing and the reason for that.
When I look at these images on my computer or in the archives, I get a sense of history and of my people. My work speaks about the history of my family and without that foundation behind my work I believe my work wouldn’t have that strong story. So it’s great to connect back because these stories add sincerity to my artwork and being able to tell these truths gives me a sense of pride, strength.
You exhibited a series ‘Queer, Blak & Here,’ as part of the ‘Boundless’ exhibition at Artspace Mackay and they acquired the work in 2021. What are your thoughts about the exhibition?
It’s beautiful to see the gallery supporting the work I do. For them to acquire the Queer series as well is really special, to be able to give me the space to share my Queer stories is meaningful to me.
Dylan Mooney (2021). Installation view, Dylan Mooney: Boundless: “Blak, Queer & Here”. Artspace Mackay. Colour print on smooth cotton paper.
“Dylan Mooney explores intersections between identity and ancestry in Boundless, a combination of graphic illustration and mixed media work. ‘Queer, Blak and Here,’ Mooney’s first major series of graphic illustrations, narrate the artists’ lived experience of love within the queer community. Mooney also looks to his South Sea Islander heritage in a new series of portraits rendered in sugar. This symbolic choice of material draws attention to the artist’s familial legacy in the Mackay region, starting a dialogue about contemporary Australian South Sea Islander identity.” – Artspace Mackay .
Whose work are you digging at the moment?
There are so many artists works I love but I guess I am Really into Kyra Mancktelows work now; her printmaking techniques and her overall concepts and themes are inspirational and her telling of history and community resonate with me. She’s one to watch out for.
What future projects are you looking forward to?
I have my solo exhibition at the Cairns Art Gallery this year, I am so excited for that and there are other projects I am working on. I can’t give away any information at the moment, but I am looking forward to releasing news soon.
UPDATE: This exhibition has just been announced – Dylan Mooney’s solo exhibition “A Story of My People” at Cairns Art Gallery.
Where can we find and follow you online?
You can find me on Instagram @dylanmooney__ and twitter as well @DylanMooney__
All images courtesy of the artist.