The first thing I made was a dolphin and a tortoise sculpted out of a piece of wood… I think my desire to make things comes from my Dad. We were always hunting, crabbing and fishing, and I used to follow him – walking around the land, and making things that interested me.

Then I started selling and people bought my art and made a little bit of money. My country is Bundjalung, and I live in Fungal Head, and I’ve always had a strong connection to the land.

I like creating pieces that has an internal spirit. For me my work keeps me in touch with my culture – money is great, but its not about the money. I’d like to do it for nothing, but you can’t! But winning the NSW Parliament House prize for Indigenous art in 2006 was a great thing – more people got interested in my work.

It is work, that’s the thing – if you are going to do it you have to commit – go into the competitions, and you have to do it yourself, nobody can do it for you. There’s always been a lot of interest in Indigenous art, but now I think we are getting much better known.
That is the good thing abut today - our stories need to be made accessible. We have lost a lot of our language and art is a way to overcome the arguments that we have amongst ourselves. It draws not just Indigenous people together but everybody.

Garth Lena is represented by the Sheoak Shack Gallery, Fingal Heads.