When Marlene Gilson first started painting, her art was focused on the Dreamtime and birds. Then she realised she liked painting people, telling the stories and deconstructing popularised tales.
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The Wadawurrung traditional owner is best known for Ballarat: My Country, painting Aboriginal people into the goldfields in a work that has been animated and projected on to the eastern Bennelong sails of the Sydney Opera House.
Aunty Marlene could hardly believe this could get any bigger.
She has not long returned from Europe as one of three Australian artists to have their work feature in La Biennale di Venezia in Italy among works from some of history's greatest artists.
Australian actress Cate Blanchett sent a piece from her collection to the biennale. Aunty Marlene was named in Vogue as one of five standout exhibitions to see.
While still pinching herself from the experience, Aunty Marlene's contribution to visual arts has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday honours.
As a proud Aboriginal woman, Aunty Marlene said to receive such an accolade on the King's Birthday public holiday was an honour.
"I'm honoured and humbled. I just hope my mum and my nan are proud and my ancestors, I hope they're proud," Aunty Marlene said.
Getting started in art for Aunty Marlene came at the encouragement of her daughter Deanne Gilson, an accomplished artist and the first Wadawurrung woman to earn a PhD.
Her other daughter Tammy Gilson is a master weaver.
Dr Gilson taught her mum the basics, got the canvas out and it all started from there.
Aunty Marlene had never imagined she would be standing before her works in a gallery in Venice with 11 family members.
"This is the biggest thing in the world. How special it was for my family wanting to come," Aunty Marlene said.
"...It's good to get us out there. There was supposed to be no [Aboriginal] survivors.
"This has been really, really amazing. I'd never imagined how could your art have taken you around the world."
Aunty Marlene's storytelling draws on what has been passed down via her nan. She has also researched a lot of the stories before putting them into her art.
Her works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions about the region and in Melbourne. She has hosted a range of workshops to share awareness and understanding in her work and the stories behind them.
Recognition in Aunty Marlene's work has been building the past decade. A showing with Martin Browne Contemporary in Sydney in 2020 has started to open up new opportunities and the possibilities for more overseas showing.
Venice marked the first time Aunty Marlene has been on a plane, other than to Sydney.
Aunty Marlene said the likes of former Art Gallery of Ballarat director Gordon Morrison has been instrumental in giving her a chance to start sharing stories.
