Noongar artist Yondee Shane Hansen was born in the south-west of Western Australia in 1964, at Dumbleyung, 270 km south of Perth. The artist’s bush name Yondee, means Black Goanna. He grew up around Narrogin and later near Guildford on the outskirts of Perth. The story of his early life and his attraction to painting gives a strong idea of how his life story feeds into his role as an Aboriginal artist.

Yondee Shane Hansen was taught about hunting and shown sand drawings by his father. Around the age of ten he would travel and visit his aunties on the Swan River and would collect paper bark to help them with their art work. It was here that he started to learn about art from his older relatives who are known for their painting on paper bark. Yondee Shane Hansen remembers from this time – “The bark had been burnt and then soaked. We would float it in the river, then the old people would grab it, put it in hessian bags, take it up the hill and dry it out for a couple of days. They’d use flour and water glue and charcoal for paint.”

Talking about his art practice today, Yondee Shane Hansen says – “I make sand paintings, collecting sand from the creeks. You have to wash it to get the salt out, but the sand is different out of the creeks, its smoother. When you have washed it a few times and sieved it, then mixed with paint, it’s good to use. When I make sand paintings using black and white, it’s that simple strong message.”