Albert (Digby) Moran, Bundjalung painter, was born in 1948 in Ballina, northern NSW and raised on Cabbage Tree Island in the Richmond River, Wardell (near Ballina). His father was Dungutti and his mother Bundjalung. From a young age, Moran worked on making boomerangs and walking sticks and one of his earliest influences was his grandfather, Robert Moran, who was a carver and wood-burner. Prior to taking up painting in 1990 Moran worked as a seasonal harvester and spent some years as a boxer touring with a travelling boxing troupe.

Moran studied art at Ballina TAFE in 1991 and began exhibiting in 1995 when his work was selected for inclusion in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Islander Art Awards at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin. His paintings have told both the history of the local Bundjalung Aboriginal community, including life on the Mission he grew up on, and stories told to him by his mother and other local elders. Moran has exhibited in many group exhibitions including shows at Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Sydney, Fireworks Art Gallery in Brisbane and Berlin Aboriginal Art Gallery, Germany. Following the 1995 exhibition, Moran was also included in the1999 and 2000 Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in Darwin.

Moran has had a number of solo exhibitions including “Memories of the Island” at Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah and Roxy Gallery, Kyogle in 2006 and has shown extensively in Germany in solo and group shows since 1995. In 2004 he exhibited as part of the exhibition, “Energy of the Earth” at Germany’s Museum Hamelyn. This show then toured to Lismore Regional Art Gallery in 2005. His German connection came through his friend Jorg Wittkowski, an opal dealer who markets his gems in Germany. In February 2007 Moran participated in a group show, “I Saw the Sun”, curated by Djon Mundine at the Lismore Regional Art Gallery.

Moran’s paintings have been in the familiar 'dot style’ but in an interview with “I Saw the Sun” curator, Djon Mundine, Moran said that he has begun to “experiment with more intricate lines and work with unusual materials such as hessian sacks.” This new style was exhibited for the first time at the 2007 Lismore Regional Gallery exhibition.

Writers:

Allas, Tess Note: with Melitta Firth

Date written:

2007

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed