For Natasha Carter, art is more than something you do for art's sake.
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The Jaara woman is busy helping pull together an exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery that will shine a light on the ways visual art has sidelined Indigenous perspective.
The idea is to get people thinking about these works that they might already have seen when visiting the gallery, Ms Carter said.
"Is it a pastoral scene that the environment would not have looked like; and what is missing from the image? Do you actually see any Dja Dja Wurrung people in the piece?" she said, referring to a Jaara group of central Victoria.
"And if so, how are they depicted? It might be a very pretty landscape, but what is the artist actually trying to get you to think about?"
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She has delved into the gallery's collection to find pieces that might have been painted using European perspectives.
Ms Carter has selected the works to accompany pieces by fellow artist Peta Clancy, who is among those featured in the Burning World Exhibition, which begins on 8 August.
Ms Clancy will exhibit photography, with a particular focus on a now flooded site where a massacre of Aboriginal people took place.
"She's a Bangerang nations woman who has a real focus on colonisation and how it has affected Country," Ms Carter said.
"Her work focuses on a massacre site on Dja Dja Wurrung Country that has been submerged under water. It's quite a hard hitting topic that really touches you.
"It's a really calming work, if you don't know the history behind the images."
Ms Carter said one print that will be displayed will have particular resonance. It was created near near Mount Alexander - also known by its Dja Dja Wurrung name Leanganook - and is one of the few early images of Indigenous police where there are no white officers of a higher rank.
"The two men are shown broad-shouldered, quite strong and standing at the forefront (of the picture) with their sabres on their hip," Ms Carter said.
"So it's quite important to have that in the exhibition."
More on Carter's work: Bunjil the eagle soars at Spring Gully Kindergarten
Ms Carter is of two different nations, central Victoria's Jaara and Western Australia's Jaru.
Her vibrant and colourful pieces are rooted firmly in the art of those traditions and to Country.
"More than anything, it's about a connection to my culture. My people told their stories through art, to accompany our oral history," Ms Carter said.
She has always been an Indigenous artist, much like many of her family members. However, forming such a strong connection with those traditions has been a lengthy process.
"'Earning it' doesn't really seem like the right term, but it's the only one I have. When I was growing up, I felt almost disconnected (from Country and my culture)" Ms Carter said.
That was partly because of the way modern society works and partly because of the "disjointed" sense of connection some still have following past attempts to sever Indigenous people's sense of themselves, she said.
"The more I have learnt about my own culture the more I have fallen into a comfortable place - of being OK with doing these artwork," Ms Carter said.
She has not just relied on family members on her journey learning techniques and styles of artistic language.
Ms Carter has reconnected with the Indigenous community as a whole in her search and has even delved into the Melbourne Museum's archives.
"I got to see pieces that a lot of my family from my mother's side had not seen before," she said.
"It gave me a stronger connection with both my Jaru and Jaara sides because I could see things my ancestors potentially held, made or used.
"I've had these passions and designs that I have always lent towards without understanding why.
"Now I do."
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