FOR OUR AUDIENCE TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF
I am a creative with skills that sit within hairdressing, photography and writing.
YOU GREW UP IN A RURAL COMMUNITY OF ONLY 300 PEOPLE, TELL US WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO GROW UP IN SUCH A SMALL COMMUNITY?
I grew up on a fourth generation Grazier property in the village of Gooloogong on Wiradjuri country. The property sits between the banks of the Lachlan River and the Conimbla National Park.
Schooling was shared with 30 other students; kindergarten to year six, all snap-lock packed in the same room. The memory of Lamington drives, door knock appeals and being chased down 1 of the 9 streets in Gooloogong by dogs of mix breed part dingo, part monster.
Days were spent in PCYC gymnasiums, athletic fields, swimming clubs and never ending hours of horse riding. You would catch me pillaging antique furniture from neighbouring dilapidated farm houses, dragging car bonnets behind motor bikes, planting trees with my grandfather, picking apricots and stirring custard with my grandmother.
IN YOUR PAST YOU HAVE STRUGGLED WITH MENTAL HEALTH, WHICH IS NOT UNCOMMON AS WE KNOW FOR PEOPLE WORKING AND LIVING IN RURAL AREAS. TELL US, FOR OTHERS, HOW YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO MANAGE AND OVERCOME THIS?
Growing up I was acutely aware of surroundings and incredibly hypersensitive to the world, I struggled with the school education system. Girls. Boys. Humans in general.
At age 15 my mother suggested I should get a job to improve my state of mind.
At 16 I moved to Canberra were I was fortunate enough to step into an apprenticeship within a salon that regarded hairdressing more than a trade but an art form. The salon fuelled and supported my desire to be the greatest with what natural abilities I possessed. I would travel and work in award winning Sydney Salons in my holidays which led to permanently residing in Sydney, working with two times awarded Australia’s Hairdresser of the year, Brad Ngata.
Within that time I was in a long-term relationship with photographer Stefan Wellsmore. Stefan helped me understand my hypersensitivity and taught me how to photograph. A medium to realise my pain of anxiety and help me to meditate the beautiful mess we exist in.