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Joey Laifoo by Indira Laifoo
Joey Laifoo
by St Margaret’s Alumni, Indira Laifoo (’19)
The intricately carved hieroglyphs used by the Ancient Egyptians on their pyramids were a catalyst for Torres Strait Islander artist Joey Laifoo to explore the stories of his people. “I saw how the artists there had used the knowledge of the time and captured this in pictures and thought that we could do something similar in the Torres Strait,” he said. “I wanted to document these stories and also the big changes in knowledge from different generations.” Joey travelled to Egypt on a government scholarship in his early twenties after studying visual art at TAFE in Cairns. “At the time I thought if I can record these stories in my art, then the young people have a template to learn from,” he said in an interview at St Margaret’s as his daughter, Indira, graduated from school. Today, Joey is an internationally recognised Australian artist with works in the National Art Gallery, the Queensland Art Gallery and in galleries overseas. He has travelled extensively with his art and hosted workshops in Jordan, Morocco, India, Germany and throughout the Pacific. For Joey, his inspiration comes from his Uncle, Athe, Harry Nona, a famous Torres Strait Islander artist who had similar interests – hunting, fishing and being with family. He also draws on stories from his Mum about his family and events from his childhood in the Torres Strait. Joey’s most valued work is the Pearl Diver which documents the experiences of his grandfather and 22 other Torres Strait Islander pearl divers. After interviewing each diver, he wove their stories into the lino-cut artwork. Each intricate symbol represents an element of knowledge or celebration of the way of life for his people during this time. Two of his artworks have been included in this publication, Horn Island and Drag Net. “To me it’s really important that we tell the stories of my grandparents and great-grandparents and pass down this knowledge from generation to generation,” Joey said.
Drag Net – shows men fishing for trevally, an every-day fish. Mangroves, crocodiles and turtles are represented in the artwork, along with the warning not to fish in the quarter moon as alligator fish could tear the nets.
Horn Island – shows the story of the men travelling by bus to the jetty at Horn Island to fish in the quarter moon. Schools of sardines swim underneath the jetty, waiting for the wind to change.
