Layne Dhu-Dickie

Born: 2004, South Hedland, Western Australia

Language: Banjiyma

Lives: South Hedland, Western Australia

“My name is Layne Dhu-Dickie, I’m a comic book artist from South Hedland, Western Australia. I became interested in comic books from my dad. I used to read his Phantom comic books a lot as a kid and his Spiderman comics. I started when I was 12 years old. I’ve always loved drawing and also it’s fun trying to make a story. I’ve watched these TV shows such as Marvel and Disney Channel, so I’ve just tried to mimic their style. I think every comic book artist eventually develops their own style. I suppose there are a lot of problems [here in Port Hedland] so I thought it would be cool if I could create a superhero that could stop them. So I based it off Captain America. In the first Captain Hedland, the villain was Crave. He touched people and made them crave drugs and alcohol. I was hoping that would get a message across for all these people doing these things for them to stop.“

In 2017 Layne became the youngest artist ever to feature in the Revealed Exhibition: New and Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists, and in 2019 at the Art Gallery of South Australia’s (AGSA) Tarnanthi. His work has been collected by the Janet Holmes à Court Collection and AGSA. Layne works as a Studio Assistant at Spinifex Hill Studio.