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Naomi Hobson is known for her challenging and engaging photographs of young people growing up in Coen, a remote Indigenous community in Far North Queensland. Since 2019 the Gallery has commissioned three series of photographs (all of which are represented in the Gallery Collection) that have received national and international acclaim. The first series commissioned was Adolescent Wonderland which was exhibited at the Gallery in 2019.
This exhibition forms part of the Cairns Art Gallery online First Nations Research Archive developed as part of the Gallery’s online Legacy Archive produced to celebrate the Gallery’s 30th anniversary.
Living in the remote community of Coen in Far North Queensland, Hobson plays an important role as an artist, mentor and creative inspiration. In 2019 she was commissioned by the Gallery to produce a body of photographic portraits to explore new narratives around black representation, identity and gender in Coen. Hobson explained the premise for her exhibition,
‘In Coen our young people are not just engrossed with living a quiet life based on ancient cultures and beliefs. In reality there is a search for a much deeper engagement with the world. What I see is a pop-culture fusion.
Our young people are immersed in global social media, so they have a much broader sense of a global culture than every generation before them. There is a constant and persistent search in Coen by young people of ‘how to be’ in this world. What this series explores is how pop culture and indigenous culture are fusing and allowing the inherent energy and youth of our young people to express their individuality.
I am applying the after-effects to focus the attention towards the subjects in their transition between childhood and adulthood, where the subjects are still finding themselves through adventure and playfulness. They have not yet let go of their childhood.’
Naomi Hobson, April 2019
The original series was later expanded to include additional portraits for a major survey exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2021. A substantial publication on this series was then produced and the series continues to be exhibited nationally and internationally.
The Gallery Collection has 18 works by Hobson including four works from the Adolescent Wonderland series, and the Foundation’s purchase of an earlier painting, Big Place 2014.
Selected Works
Naomi Hobson, Orange “This one’s ripped but e’right, e’goes” Baziem, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, Road Play "She told mum she was taking me for a ride down the road but she not." Laine, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, A Bed No-more “I knew I would find him back here… he still thinking about our flower garden we use to have, aye Mick? And over there was where we tried to grow vegetables, beans and pumpkin." Mark, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, Young Love “We been going out for nearly 12 months now. Kurtis is from Pormpaaraw. You know them Shortjoe mob? well that’s his mob." Ratarni, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, Daley’s Bike “Ms. Daley, the kindergarten teacher has a flash black bike, it’s them olden-style one. Every time I drop Erica off at kindy, I always check it out.” Kayla, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, What time Mr. Wolf “We leaving soon, going shop for buy smoke and drink before shop close, what time there Mr. Wolf?” Uncle Jimmy, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, Baby Pink
“It’s her favourite colour.” Kayla, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
Naomi Hobson, Play for FUN “We always muck-around play music. Keep everybody wake on this street, make them feel good.” Davis, 2019, digital print, Courtesy of the artist
This project is an initiative of the Cairns Art Gallery. It has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through the Arts Queensland Backing Indigenous Arts initiative and is supported by Kalan Enterprises, Coen, Cape York.
The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.
