At Aboriginal Art Co, we are proud to work alongside artists whose practices are deeply rooted in truth-telling, cultural strength, and contemporary expression. Desirai Saunders is one of those artists; an emerging voice with a powerful perspective, using her work to navigate complex realities with clarity and courage.
Desirai’s practice is bold yet reflective. It sits at the intersection of personal experience and collective memory, exploring the tensions many Aboriginal people carry, between survival and speaking up, between protection and principle. Her work doesn’t shy away from discomfort. Instead, it invites us in.
Desirai’s exhibition Tip the Bucket was developed through Aboriginal Art Co’s Safe Space Residency; a program designed to support First Nations artists to experiment, reflect, and create in a culturally safe and supported environment.
The residency is more than just access to space. It’s about time, trust, and community.
Through Safe Space, Desirai had the opportunity to slow down and deepen her practice- testing ideas, refining her visual language, and building a cohesive body of work. Residencies like this are critical. They allow artists to step outside of production pressure and into a space of exploration, where new ideas can emerge and grow.
A key part of the Safe Space Residency is mentorship, creating pathways for artists to develop not only their creative practice, but their confidence, networks, and professional skills.
Throughout her residency, Desirai engaged with the Aboriginal Art Co team and peer mentor Sam Harrison and wider creative community, receiving guidance across curatorial development, exhibition planning, and storytelling. These moments of exchange are where growth happens, where ideas are challenged, supported, and strengthened.
We see mentorship as a two-way exchange. While we support artists like Desirai, we also learn from them and their perspectives shaping how we continue to evolve as an organisation.
Tip the Bucket is a deeply considered body of work that reflects on the pressures faced within community and beyond.
The exhibition explores the idea of containment, of systems that hold people back, and the difficult choices that come with navigating them. There is a quiet tension running through the work: when is it safer to stay silent, and when is it necessary to speak?
Desirai draws on metaphor and symbolism to unpack these ideas. The notion of “tipping the bucket” suggests a moment of disruption, a shift that creates the possibility for freedom, but also risk. Her work asks:
What does it take to change the conditions we’re in? And what might it cost?
These are not easy questions. But they are important ones.
As part of the exhibition, Desirai shared more about her process and ideas through an artist talk, offering deeper insight into the stories behind the work.
If you’d like to hear directly from Desirai, you can watch the full talk on our YouTube channel. It’s a powerful extension of the exhibition, one that brings her voice, intent, and reflections into focus.
