Bobbi Lockyer is kicking major goals right now. You might already know the Ngarluma, Kariyarra, Nyulnyul and Yawuru artist for her bold-hued paintings, or for the gorgeous photos she takes of First Nations women and children. Or perhaps you’ve glimpsed her dreamy clothing label, Gantharri, which most recently appeared at New York Fashion Week. Bobbi grew up in a mining town, where pursuing creativity didn't always feel within reach, but with dedication and heck of a lot of DIY spirit, she's finally living the dream. We caught up with Bobbi ahead of her appearance at Adobe MAX to hear how she made art her thing.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Bobbi Lockyer (@bobbilockyer)

How did your artistic journey begin? Did you come from a creative household? I do come from a creative, arty family. My mum is very creative – she taught me how to sew when I was four years old and she always encouraged me. She taught me how to paint and draw. A lot of my childhood memories are of sitting in my room and making things.

How did you go about pursuing art later on? All I wanted to do was art. I somehow managed to convince my principal to let me swap one of my science classes for another art class in high school. And then towards the end of high school, when they tell you to choose a career, I said I just want to do art. But they said that art is not a real job.

Young people hear that a lot. Yeah, they literally tell you, “Do you want to be a starving artist?” And I was from Port Hedland, a mining town, so they push you to pick mining jobs like engineering or being an electrician. And I was like, “No.” That was when I discovered graphic design and digital design and realised that actually, I could make a career out of art.

Did you have someone to look up to in art? I didn’t have anyone I knew who was a professional artist, or had made a career out of it. But I still always had art around me, especially in my culture. I have a lot of memories where we went to an auntie's house and we'd literally all be sitting in the driveway, under the shade, just painting and having cups of teas.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Bobbi Lockyer (@bobbilockyer)

You now paint, do photography and graphic design and make clothing as well. How do you approach each medium? It all sort of starts with an idea first. I’m always filling my phone with notes, ideas and concepts and building from that. I’ll feel inspired and then decide what medium I want to do it in. Sometimes I get that itch to just put paint on the canvas. Sometimes I will recreate the idea in all different mediums – there are no limits. I just do it how I want to do it.

At what point in your life did you get the confidence to decide, ‘I’m going to do things my way’? There were two points: one was when I left high school. I dropped out, discovered Photoshop and spent many nights teaching myself graphic design. The other big point was five years ago, when I decided to really take things seriously. I had left a violent marriage and had to start over, so my biggest goal was to buy a house for myself and my kids; to have stability. I thought, “I need to show everyone that I can make art a career.” And I did. I just bought a house in January. 

A lot of your career has been very DIY. How did you go about teaching yourself graphic design and digital art? I spent a lot of nights just on the computer and exploring and learning different things you can do Photoshop from online tutorials. I did go to TAFE for a little bit – I failed the photography module – but then I dropped out of that because I’m a very impatient person and felt like it wasn’t getting me places. I got my first job with a screenprinting place. I kind of lied my way into that job, but used that on-the-job experience to move forward and got to learn Illustrator and went from there. 

What’s one Adobe program you couldn’t live without? I love all of them! I can’t live without Lightroom because of my photography. But for my digital art, I need Photoshop and Illustrator. I guess I’d have to say Photoshop, because you can do all the things in it.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Bobbi Lockyer (@bobbilockyer)

Where do you draw inspiration from? I spend a lot of time at the beach where we get these huge king tides and all these corals and seashells wash up. Then the tide goes out and you can walk out onto the reef. It’s actually incredible. I've had that my whole life growing up here. The coral, starfish, textures – that still adds to my creative process now. If I’m having a bit of creative block, I will go down to the beach and I’ll see something – like the way the water has left marks in the sand – and that will trigger something.

Can you tell us more about the landscape in Port Hedland? It sounds magical. We have the beautiful red dirt, the red rocks, wildflowers in pinks and purples and blues. Then we have the beach, with big rocks and caves to explore. When the tide’s down, there are rock pools filled with fish and coral. And then there are the sunsets – you can’t beat a Pilbara sunset. I think it’s because of all the iron-ore dust in the air – it lights up and you get your bright reds, then your deep pinks and purples. We also have the salt pile in Hedland – the salt flats reflect those purple and pink tones. I find Port Hedland magical, but I think when people go there, they’re like, “Oh, what is this?” because it’s a mining town. There’s mining stuff everywhere. But you really have to experience it to see the beauty of it.

You have a really unique colour palette in your artwork. Was this inspired by the landscape too? I definitely get all my colour from the corals and the wildflowers in Hedland. I just love colour. My whole life I’ve been drawn to colour. I hate grey walls; I feel like I see the world in hypercolour. I remember in school when we were painting something and discussed skin tone. People would be like, “Oh, it’s beige”, but I’d say, “No, there are actually bits of pink and blue that I can see, which make up that one colour.”

How did you develop your style? For me, it’s just about wanting to create things that make me feel happy. I still think I don’t have a style but people say I do. But it’s just colour and how I see the world.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Gantharri (gun-thar-dee) (@gantharri)

You debuted your label Gantharri this year. What made you want to explore fashion? I’ve actually always been into fashion. Growing up, I went to textile traders with Mum and remember touching all the different fabrics and wanting to sew things. I was really obsessed with my Barbie dolls and making outfits for them. I would cut up balloons and make swimsuits for them and I’d get flowers and glue them onto paper to make dresses.

As a teenager, I felt like I couldn’t take part in fashion. Fashion is aimed at a certain type of person, and I was not that type of person. It wasn’t until I did a collaboration with the label Deadly Denim that it reignited that spark again. I started exploring, putting my artwork on fabric and on textiles, which made me think “I really want to do this”. I want Gantharri to be inclusive, because I always felt excluded from fashion and I don’t want anyone to feel that.

What role has social media played in your career so far? I really love social media. I know there are downsides, but for me, it’s quite fun. It’s a way to connect with my audience. It’s also played a big role in marketing myself and my brand, but also, being able to share my voice and my stories to a greater platform has been really good.

It can be scary to put yourself out there when you’re a young artist. Did you ever feel that fear? In my first few years, I really hid behind the camera. I just shared my art, did my photography and no one knew who I was. There were times when I’d be hired to do photos for an event, and then I’d turn up and they’d be like, “Oh, you’re Bobbi.” Maybe they expected someone else. It got to the point where I thought, “I want people to not only hire me for my work, but also for me – who I am”. So I started putting myself in front of the camera. I hated it at first; I felt like everyone was judging me. But I felt the more I did it, the more I could connect with people. The more I became relatable. People want to know that it’s a real person with a real life story; someone who’s living and breathing. My following grew the more I put my face on social media. I still cringe, but it works.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Bobbi Lockyer (@bobbilockyer)

Now more than ever, there’s an expectation – whether from the audience or the algorithms – to always be creating content. Do you have to put boundaries in place to protect your creativity? I have all notifications turned off on my social media, otherwise I’d be looking at my phone every second. I have time limits on my Facebook and Instagram. Sometimes I feel really pressured to share a lot of stuff, especially behind-the-scenes stuff, and I love sharing it, but sometimes it’s just too full on. So I might take little videos along the way but not post about it for a month.

What’s your advice to young artists out there? My biggest piece of advice would be not to listen to anyone but yourself, because I did that: I listened to everyone. And it gave me so much stress and anxiety. I was trying to please this person and that person. All it came down to in the end is wanting to please myself; to do what I want and follow my passion. So don’t listen to anyone who tells you you can’t do it. Just do it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Bobbi Lockyer (@bobbilockyer)

Which artists are inspiring you right now? This is hard to answer because I used to spend a lot of time comparing my artwork to others thinking, “Why am I not good enough?” So I made a conscious decision to unfollow artists and I try to not let anyone else influence my art. I don’t want to be copying – I just want the inspiration to come from me and no one else.

What’s your dream project? I really want to see my artwork wrapped around a Qantas plane. That’s a huge goal. I've wanted it ever since I saw the first one done when I was a child. Balarinji is the group that did that. I have been in contact with them but they said they weren’t looking for anything at this stage. But I’m going to keep manifesting. And then fashion wise, I would love to dress someone for the Met Gala. 

We flew up to Sydney to interview Bobbi, courtesy of Adobe MAX. The creative conference streams on October 20th. Registration is free at adobe.com.