The work in this exhibition is more then a collection of well rendered images, they are graphic stories that recount a chapter of our state's history. In her excellent paintings and drawings Norma MacDonald reveals, with honesty and respect, the story of Carrolup Mission to present a collection of well constructed, informative, inspiring and passionate works of fine art.

The Indigenous children who lived at Carrolup in the 1940's were trained for domestic service (the girls) or manual labour (the boys). They were also taught to draw and paint and produced unique landscape images that were celebrated around Australia and beyond. But when the mission closed there was no way of continuing the development or distribution of the children's artistic efforts, resulting in the loss of potential and positive affects.

As with her previous exhibitions, MacDonald researched her subject well so as to approach the work with empathy and honesty. Here she adeptly employs layers of media - including oil, watercolour, charcoal, pen, pencil, pastel - to create layers in images that suggest layers of life, culture and meaning. For example, when viewing The Place I Belong we look at and through images of a warrior and institutional boys in white shirts holding up a drawing that relates to corroboree, land and animals. The layers of boys and men, past and present create an intriguing image that reminds us of what was lost.

Employing warm earth hues, cool blues and ghostly veils of transparent white, the artist evokes a sense of earth, air and spirit. For example the painting Spirit Drawn, has four boys in polo shirts with hair cut and combed, standing in a row holding up the pictures they have produced. The composition is reminiscent of a formally posed photograph. The boys seem to be encased in, or perhaps radiating, circular (spirit) lines while the paintings they hold dissolve into, or are fed by, the real landscape. The lads are indeed one with the subject of their work. A very inspiring image. So too is the excellent Hold Fast where boys sit atop crates filled with art works that are to be sent away. The boys are cramped in a small tent behind which we see, through a mist, ghosts of their land, family and culture. But there is a sense of hope for the future as a lone tree clings to the land with strong finger-like roots and sends a green leafy runner through the tent's wall to the boys.

The subjects of many of her mixed media works on paper involve aspects of separating children from their families, attempts to change their ways and references to the 'legal right' to do so. These are powerful and evocative drawings that speak volumes. But there was one watercolour that seemed to me to encapsulate the strength that flows thorough it all; the art and the history. Having viewed a couple of drawings of children in the arms of their mothers prior to be taken, and images depicting young girls in mission garb learning how to stitch and sew with white cotton, I came upon the swirling watercolour Connecting Threads which set my heart singing. This warm, simple yet powerful image depicts an all embracing spirit who gathers together land and people and holds them safely within wispy white threads that will never be broken.

MacDonald's work reveals a certain sense of the fragility of dreams and strength of spirit. Her work attests to the fact that the land and the people are connected. This is an inspiring exhibition of fine works of art that reveal a piece of history and attests to the artist's ability to paint a picture of history. See it.