Artists credits daughters with bringing his art to life

Artist Jacob Sarra says the birth of his daughters has given his life, and his paintings, meaning and purpose.

Indigenous artist Jacob Sarra. Picture: Peter Wallis

JACOB SARRA, 40, ARTIST, EASTERN HEIGHTS

I’m not sure how many art careers the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have inspired, but Mum (Jenny, 64, bookkeeper) wouldn’t let me do martial arts as a kid.

One of the things she probably made the right decision on – that and the Guns N’ Roses concert when I was nine.

Instead, I read up about the artists the turtles were named for – Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael. Seeing Michelangelo’s David in Florence and getting into the Sistine Chapel to see Raphael’s work in real life was mind-blowing.

Still, I actually bought myself a pair of practice nunchaku off eBay the other day. I’m like, oh, I’m going to start learning, I’m old enough to do it by myself, I don’t need Mum’s permission!

Indigenous artist Jacob Sarra with the Volva Australia Group bus. Picture: Peter Wallis

Art was part of the reason my wife Kylie (39, insurance assistant) and I eloped to Rome in 2017.

We used to see each other at school discos in high school – I went to St Edmund’s, she Bundamba State High – and she always had a bit of a crush on me. About six or seven years ago, she added me on Facebook, started a conversation and went from there.

We flew into England, saw a football game in Manchester, got the ferry to Amsterdam, then I proposed in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe in the rain – I already knew it was a done deal – and a day or so later, we got married in Rome. We had our one-day honeymoon in Florence, which has to be one of my favourite cities.

Kylie was pregnant with Sofia, (now 4), at the time and now we have Gabrielle, two, as well as my stepdaughter Cloee, 20, and stepsons Jasper, 14, Archer, 13, and Oliver, 11. Life is pretty hustle and bustle. Painting has drifted in and out of my life since high school.

Dad Grant (60, Goreng Goreng, cross-cultural awareness consultant) was always painting about connections to people and pathways, my brother Luke (35, public servant) did fashion design degrees and my sister Rachael, 30, is a painter and digital artist. Art and HPE were the two subjects I always passed. I’ve played and loved cricket since I was about 10.

From 2000-02, I played in the ATSIC Chairman’s XI against then prime minister John Howard’s XI, which was a pretty surreal experience. I play first grade with Brothers and am one of the oldest players, which means it’s also a leadership role. Mum rarely misses a game. I’d like my daughters to play but I don’t think Kylie is too keen. Sofia is very tall so I’d like her to play basketball.

Ipswich Indigenous artist Jacob Sarra with daughter, Sofia, 4. Picture: Peter Wallis

After school, I did about 18 months of a business degree at University of Queensland because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do, but I probably should have got a trade – it would have been more up my alley.

I ended up full-time in hospitality and then for the past 11 years, as a truck operator at the New Acland mine, near Oakey.

I was made redundant in November 2021 and now work casually at Coles collecting trolleys which gives me time to paint without stressing too much about when the next commission is coming.

My first big contract was with Volvo Group Australia, creating an original artwork to feature in their Wacol headquarters and on a couple of vehicles. One of their staff had seen my art online. I was nervous starting out, but it was enjoyable. It’s surreal – my best mate was chuffed to see the bus featuring my artwork at Brisbane Airport last week.

It’s only since having my daughters that I’ve really worked to paint anything of meaning. They’ve given me a sense of direction and motivation, whereas before I was like a rudderless ship. I’ve always felt like I’ve got ADHD, that I’ve got all these ideas in my head and need to get them down on canvas.

As a younger man, I’d paint a piece to about 80 per cent, 90 per cent completion, and then I’d just leave them there. They’d never get finished and I’d have canvases piled up. Now I might have two or three on the go, but I’ll always finish them. I get up at 4am, make a cuppa and paint for a couple of hours at the kitchen table or on the back deck, uninterrupted before the girls wake up. It’s therapeutic, definitely meditative.

I don’t feel like I’m an authority to speak on (Indigenous) culture so I stick to my own story. I’ve always been fascinated by space and stars and the moon, so a lot of my paintings are almost like an abstraction of the Milky Way or a snapshot of a time, whether a memory from my childhood or even Sofia’s first day of kindy. It’s like a continuum, whether from my past or present or even the future.

Ipswich Indigenous artist Jacob Sarra with daughter, Sofia, 4. Picture: Peter Wallis

Sofia is quite artistic and we worked together on a piece entered in the Ipswich Art Awards, which was one of five bought from the 300 entries. Ollie’s got a good grasp of colours and natural talent, which I’m going to foster. Gabby just likes to draw on furniture unfortunately.

Facebook: Jacob Sarra Art

facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069828712048

Instagram: @jacobsarra_art

instagram.com/jacobsarra_art/