My name is Ambrose Scott Killian, I am a proud father to Amias Angale Killian and Akira Angale Killian and a loving husband. I was born in Larrakia country (Darwin) and I am currently residing in Meanjin/ Brisbane. I am of mixed ancestry, with Australian, German, British, African-American and Aboriginal blood. My Nanna, Barbara-Anne Chisholm, was born in Eastern Arrernte country and was stolen and raised north of Darwin on Melville Island before moving to Brisbane and then back to Darwin after her schooling had finished. My Grandfather, Ambrose Morgan was of Bundjalung and African- American decent and grew up around Redfern, NSW.

We were fortunate enough that Nanna found her home country from where she was taken from not long prior to her mother passing away, to which we are now welcomed back to at any opportunity.

I have always been a day dreamer and drawer, finding myself stuck doodling and drawing from a very young age. Art and creating has always been my safe space, letting me share my feelings and stories in a realm that lacks judgement and is only limited to one’s imagination. My drive to learn more about the cultural significance of our art really began in 2010 when I created a large piece titled ‘Grey’. This piece won the Indigenous Heart Foundation Student Award and toured QLD galleries for the remainder of the year. More importantly, it opened up my passion and drive to keep painting and learning about our art and culture.

I enjoy acrylic medium on canvas as well as utilising spray paint, finding myself painting pieces with a prominent foreground image/ subject, or landscape style paintings. I am severely colour-blind, so choosing the right colour pallet is always a challenge, but very rewarding when I get it right. You will often see me utilising browns and neutral tones to represent the desert and the land, whilst working in subtle hints of blue to represent our waterways.

I am encapsulated by our beautiful environment, the night sky and landscapes so find myself painting and creating pieces with silhouettes of people and our animals looking over some of these landscapes. My fondest memories are looking under the star lit night sky when camping on the Territory or with my Father in Perth, which you will see strong references to in a lot of my artwork.

We did not have books, giant relics and buildings to teach our culture and lore, so I feel it is my duty to teach and expose people to our culture through my artwork and story telling. It’s a great pleasure of mine to be able to turn a childhood past time and hobby into work that now supports my growing family.