Indigenous Artist Brad Turner’s Homewares Collaboration with Adairs -

Adairs has joined forces with contemporary indigenous artist, Brad Turner, to launch a homewares and accessories range.

Each piece of the collaborative reflects Brad’s contemporary style of Indigenous Art combined with a mix of earthy, coastal tones with vibrant colours to inspire hope and positivity.

We chat to Brad about the collaboration, and find out a little more about his life and inspiration.

Tell us about you, how would you introduce yourself to a stranger?

I’m Brad Turner, I’m a proud Bundjalung Contemporary Indigenous Artist. I’ve been painting professionally for about 18 months. Art was a way for me and my daughter to learn more about our people, our culture, our traditions, and our land. As a show of respect, I try to incorporate our language into the name yuyyyyy artwork.

From humble beginnings at our dining room table, to now having my art in so many people’s homes and hearts, I sometimes have to pinch myself. I feel a great sense of pride and gratitude for being able to do what I do and for the support I’ve received from both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous communities.

How did you get into drawing/painting?

My mother’s father used to be a signwriter but would love to draw and read books on wildlife. I
used to spend hours with him drawing and these memories are ones I hold close.

As mentioned, I only started painting Indigenous Art about 18 months ago. Initially it was to connect my daughter to her culture and heritage, little did I realise at that time sharing this moment with her was going to change my life!

After suffering a workplace injury a few years prior, I have had some dark moments. My art became very therapeutic and that’s why I use bright and vibrant colours to promote hope and positivity.

I mainly use acrylic paint on cotton duck canvas, each piece can have thousands of dots taking many hours to complete.

How would you describe your work?

Capturing special moments, connecting and interpreting them into art is sometimes very tricky but I love this part of my work. When I’m doing commissioned artwork, I like to find out the essence behind why they wanted the piece and what it means to them.

When I create pieces for my collections it is from a place of gratitude, so I like to use colours that reflect our culture but also like to add pops of colour.

Can you tell us a bit about your mob, your culture and the country you live on?

I was born and raised on my grandmother Stella’s country. She grew up in the Murillimbah &
Tweed region. This is why I often paint a representation of Wollumbin, Mt Warning.

The Bundjalung/ Yugambeh language people are the traditional custodians of the land located in
south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales, our ancestors all spoke one or more
dialects of the Yugambeh Language.

My great grandfather was one of the first Aboriginals to play in the Tweed All Blacks. My grandfather Merv was from Central Queensland, Darumbal Country.

My father has told me stories about how my grandfather worked on the Railroad and how as
children they were constantly terrified that they may be taken away as they were a part of the
stolen generation era.

Your daughter sounds like your biggest inspiration, can you tell us more about why she inspires you?

I want to be the best role model I can, I want to teach her that there will always be challenges but it’s how you learn and move forward is what matters most.

My daughter is part of the next generation of indigenous leaders, she is already stepping up into this role at school. She is strong, resilient and compassionate. She inspires me to learn