18 May 2022 11:43am

This piece came about as a request from a friend who had just moved to a beautiful new home that was low on storage space. She needed somewhere to put her clothes and asked me to keep an eye out. After a lucky Gumtree search, my partner and I drove out to Greenslopes to scoop up this dresser for just $30.

I took it home, gave it a good clean, and noticed that, along with a Freddo frog wrapper and some cobwebs, it had a stamp marked in one of its drawers. I had read about this stamp before but didn’t expect to come across it so soon into my furniture revitalising journey. The stamp reads “European Labour Only”—  an indicator of racist Australian labour laws put into place in the late 1800s, which discriminated against Chinese labourers and products under the guise of ‘protecting’ Chinese workers against unjust labour practices. This article by Jinghua Qian is full of great information and insights about this history, including a look at how current-day marketing around ‘ethical products’ and the politicisation of what/how we consume is something for us all to think about critically.

My friend and I agreed that although it was an ugly thing to unpack, this stamp offered us an opportunity to continue to learn more about the harmful policies sowed by our European ancestors, which have continued to hold root. She came up with the idea of sanding back the shiny varnish to expose the raw wood, as a symbol of the raw and uncomfortable truth of the time and way this ‘artefact’ came about. We talked about how we might also offer a respectful (non-appropriative) nod to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples whose lands our ancestors, and we, have colonised— a history out of which this piece of furniture arose and a population that has also experienced racist and violent policies under the guise of ‘protection’. So, what started as a ‘simple’ bedroom dresser project, had turned into something much more meaningful and was going to require some careful attention to process.

As the layers of varnish lifted over a few hours of gentle sanding (as to not damage the fragile veneer… more symbolism perhaps?), the natural wood revealed itself. Sanding gave me plenty of time to reflect and to think about how to add some painted designs that would offer a fitting transformation for this piece. Not long ago, my friend (the same one) lent me a book called The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk. Without spoiling anything, the book features eloquent and engaging themes and messages around the sacredness of the Earth and her elements— earth, wind, water and fire. Starhawk names a fifth sacred thing— spirit— which I encourage you to read about in her own words through the link above. I asked my friend how she felt about applying these symbols as inspiration and she was into it! 

I ordered up some Vintage Bird Milk Paint to try out an earth-conscious option for adding some colour to this piece. As I was working out the design, it occurred to me that the colour palette to represent each element was aligned with the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags— black, yellow & red / green & blue. When it came time to paint, I looked to Cressida Bell’s book The Decorative Painter, which was recommended to me by my aunt Kim. The first pattern representing the earth element (leaves) was inspired by one of Cressida’s designs. As I got going, the remaining patterns begin to unfold in real time. There is a hint of reference to the cardinal directions in the design as well— with air moving east-west and water north-south. The final touch was to add a few honeycombs to the top, which were chosen to symbolise the energy of spirit and felt fitting for this particular bee-loving friend.

Once the painting was complete, I covered everything with a coat of wax to seal the design and bring out the beautiful natural tones of the the wood. To my surprise, when I decided to also coat the interior of each drawer to freshen up the wood, the stamp that had been so glaringly visible at the start became much more subtle… Perhaps there is a message in there about tending to and nourishing the raw and uncomfortable parts of ourselves and our histories? When all was said and done, my friend and her partner were happy to welcome this revitalised piece into their space, marking the next stop on its path from past to present to future.