Station 5

The act of Simon picking up the cross and carrying it for Jesus is an act that many theologians refer to as: - “sharing the load” or “sharing the burden”.

This concept is not uncommon or alien to Indigenous peoples the world over. In that ‘it is at the very core’ of their belief systems and the reason I chose this station. Many things in our lives; physically, emotionally and spiritually are at varying times in our lives “TOO HEAVY”, to carry alone.

We need a helping hand and support, and for the weight to be shared amongst those we love and trust. This Artwork is about the helping hands we all need at times in our lives.

Whether it’s starting out in our journeys, or of finding a hurdle or bump in the road that is too big to get over alone.

Everyone needs a helping hand at least once in their life’s journey and this is humanity’s true hope, it’s a real gift that helps us all continue on down that road feeling that we are not alone.

Biography

Peter Farmer is a Noongar artist  born in Gnowangerup in 1971. Farmer’s family descend from a number of Noongar groups, including the Whadjuk, Minang, Wilman and Wardandi peoples. Farmer lived at Marribank Mission between the ages of eight and seventeen. Marribank was previously the Carrolup Native Settlement renowned for the artworks created by the Carrolup children. In 1999 he enrolled in an Associate Degree in Contemporary Aboriginal Art at Curtin University, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) in 2001. In 2008 Farmer was named Visual Artist of the Year at the Perth NAIDOC Awards. More recently Farmer has been designing fashion and textiles. In 2017 he collaborated with Noongar artist Kylie Graham and Perth designer Sandra Rives of Red Opium for the Chirringer Aboriginal Collection and two pairs of shoe designs for Jimmy Choo. His works are in the collection of the Australian Institute For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Edith Cowan University, Government House in Perth, and the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Western Australian Government.