Guyi Rirrkiyan Minitji – Fish in Rock Pool 1993 gouache on card by Lin Onus (1948 – 1996). (Copy)
Image courtesy of D’Lan Contemporary.
Lin Onus (1948–1996), or as I’ve always known him, Uncle Lin, was more than an artist; he was a visionary who reshaped contemporary SouthEastern or, as us Victorian Aboriginal folks like to say, ‘Koori’ art. A Yorta Yorta man with Scottish ancestry, he bridged cultural, political and artistic traditions, creating work that defied expectation and challenged the rigid frameworks of the Australian art world. His 1993 gouache Guyi Rirrkiyan Minitji – Fish in Rock Pool embodies his signature fusion of photorealism and Aboriginal iconography, pushing against market-driven expectations and asserting our identities on our own terms, on our own Country. Deeply grounded in Yorta Yorta culture and history, Onus’s connection to Country was shaped by time spent at Cummeragunja Mission, a place of cultural significance for us Yorta Yorta people. There he learnt from his father, activist Bill Onus, and his uncle, Aaron Briggs, known as the ‘old man of the forest’. It was Uncle Aaron who gifted him the name Burrinja, meaning ‘star’. These experiences on Country formed the foundation of Onus’s artistic vision. His work captures the fluidity of our waterways, the resilience of our culture and the layered ways in which we see and experience the world.
Onus’s work was never just about aesthetics; it was deeply political. He grew up in the activist space of the Aborigines Advancement League, cofounded by his father, and his career was entwined with the struggle for Aboriginal rights. His first solo exhibition in 1975 was held within that very space. In 1986, while representing Victoria on the Aboriginal Arts Board, he travelled to Maningrida and met senior artist Jack Wunuwun, who became his adoptive father and mentor. Wunuwun and other Yol ŋu Elders entrusted him with permission to incorporate rarrk (crosshatching) as well as their Yolŋu language into his work. This cultural exchange is reflected in Guyi Rirrkiyan Minitji – the title itself being in Yolŋu – where fragmented reflections conceal and reveal, mirroring the complexities of cultural knowledge.
Uncle Lin had a rare ability to challenge dominant narratives with both sharp intellect and humour. As curator Margo Neale perfectly put it, he was a ‘cultural terrorist of gentle irreverence’. He lured viewers in with stunning realism, only to subvert colonial perceptions of Aboriginal art and identity through deeper layers of meaning. His legacy remains cemented in the national canon. Today, his work is housed in major collections, including a dedicated space at Shepparton Art Museum on Yorta Yorta Country. Recent exhibitions, such as Lin Onus: The Land Within, co-curated by Yorta Yorta curator Belinda Briggs, reaffirm his ongoing relevance in dialogues around identity, place and belonging.
By Chloe Jones
Published by D’Lan Contemporary as part of the Significant 10th anniversary exhibition catalogue, 2025.
SOURCES
Belinda Briggs and Shelley McSpeddan, Lin Onus: The Land Within, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria, 2022. Margot Neale, Urban Dingo: The Art of Lin Onus, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2000. Personal interviews with Yorta Yorta Community and family members.
