Gallerysmith presents I AM BLAK QUEEN, a new body of work by acclaimed artist Clinton Naina, whose practice has long addressed the tainted path of colonisation and truth-telling in contemporary Australia. Working with his signature medium of bleach on canvas, Naina continues to draw out powerful metaphors of erasure and survival. White King bleach, a chemical agent that "whitens, cleans and removes stains" has long been the hallmark of his practice, a material embodiment of his lived experience. In the artist's hands, the medium is both destructive and salve, a paradox that speaks to the resilience of his Torres Strait Islander identity.
This exhibition builds on narratives Naina has explored throughout his career, from his landmark 1990s series White King, Blak Queen through to his recent Embodiment series, which examined the spiritual, physical and cultural weight of living within a colonised landscape. In I AM BLAK QUEEN, Naina gives each of these works an individual voice, while reintroducing his alter ego, the Blak Queen, a commanding, defiant persona who embodies survival under the commonwealth rule of Australia's own white king, King Charles. This character is a shield against erasure, a declaration of visibility and agency over one’s own story.
I AM BLAK QUEEN also acknowledges celebrated New Zealand painter Colin McCahon whose stark use of text confronted moral and existential concerns. Like McCahon, Naina speaks with spare graphic compositions and simple yet assertive language as a visual and conceptual force. While McCahon’s canvases often sought divine reassurance, Naina considers embodiment to reinforce cultural presence, reclaiming space with anarchic resistance against colonial histories.
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