A suggested outline for a critical analysis of Sally Morgan's silkscreen print "Taken Away." The work evokes a feeling of searching for a sense of identity and place.

Sally Morgan is a well know Australian indigenous artist and author. Her work is ideally suited to an analysis in the style of visual critical literacy because the simple stylistic abstraction is about identity and place.

The Artist

Australian children instantly recognize the artist Sally Morgan’s work as she is a children’s author and book illustrator. She was born in Perth in 1951. Because she had been deceived, she grew up not understanding her own origins. Her mother, influenced by her own fears, had always told her that she had been born an Indian. Sally was often questioned her identity and by the time she was fifteen she learnt from her sister that she and her sister were in fact “of Aboriginal descent.” This experience of searching out her own identity lead to the writing of her first book My Place [Fremantle Arts Center Pr, first published in 1987]. Sally traces her personal journey of self-discovery, and through her inspiring narrative, we come to a compassionate understanding of the situation of the times. (Aboriginal Art Online)

Cultural Background

Eventually she was reconnected with her Aboriginal culture and community, the Palku people of the Pilbara. If you would like to know more about the Lost Generation, read the "Bringing Them Home” Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families [April 1997]. In this report authors spoke to more than 500 Aboriginal people whose lives have been directly affected by the child removal policies.

Finding Her Place

Ms. Morgan has received many awards, including an award from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. Her screenprint Outback (1989) was selected by international art historians as part of the celebration in 1993 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She is currently Director of the Centre for Indigenous History and Arts at The University of Western Australia.

Visual Critical Literacy

The Nexus Project offers an outline, which you can regard as a suggested approach to decontextualising the work of Sally Morgan. From this brief sample outline, teachers can plan a similar analysis of how Ms. Morgan's work imparts a sense of identity and place.

This analysis is an example of how visual critical literacy works. The students will be engaged by these learning experiences

• they will be asked to identify and frame appropriate questions
• through narrative they will gain an understanding of relativity, and come to appreciate that all research and interpretation is dependent on a number of variables including age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and education
• they will be guided in technique and methodology when they write a report

The students will be asked to look at three aspects of the artwork Taken Away

• Technological: They will be asked to research what technologies were used in the production of the work. (colour silkscreen on paper)
• Social:They will look at social identities of the artist in relation to the society in which the artwork was made.
• Aesthetic: How well has the message has been conveyed through the use of the elements of design

This style of analysis is a wonderful tool for teachers who would like to approach topics of social justice in an interesting way. If you are looking for a more creative hands on approach – why not have the students paint or make a print about a topical social justice issue.

If you have been working with your students in this way please share your work with us on the discussion boards.