Collection: NAIDOC Week x Rubii Red

Rubii Red is a proud Lama Lama artist from Cape York, Queensland but has grown up on Wurundjeri Country in Victoria. Her style as an artist is heavily influenced by her love for anime, manga and comic-books. Rubii has created artwork for brands and organisations like; Google and XBOX ANZ. She's also been featured in Vogue Australia and has had her art displayed in the National Gallery of Victoria's 'Melbourne Now' exhibition back in 2023. Rubii's art reflects her culture and her people in a fun and vibrant way, representing her people within her work.

Alongside her fun and vibrant pieces, she always has created some political pieces targeting ongoing issues that affect not only her community, but other communities. Rubii hopes to continue making art that young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can see themselves in, she hopes to tell stories and send important messages through her pieces.

'Ancestors Calling' is a fun, vibrant artwork that was inspired by the early 2000s/Y2k aesthetic and as well as the theme of this year's NAIDOC, 'The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy'. I think at the time I was in a Y2K vibe and I knew I wanted to create something fun, but also incorporate this year's NAIDOC theme as well. When I stumbled upon the old flip-phones from the early 2000s, I knew that I wanted to incorporate the phone into the piece and thought about how deadly it would be to have something to do with connecting to our ancestors and loved ones for guidance and strength in this world through the phone.

Navigating life, at the moment, is a bit of struggle and especially as a First Nations person in this country, it's been a rollercoaster of emotions. The colour palette was heavily inspired by the pink Y2K theme you see online, but made it a little darker and added blues in it. I hope people resonate with the piece and like it.