The God Son
2021
from the January First series 2021

• Naomi Hobson

Naomi Hobson is a multidisciplinary artist of Kaantju and Umpila descent whose work centres on her relationship with the land and her community of Coen, a remote township in the heart of Cape York, Far North Queensland. This work forms part of a series that documents a contemporary local custom related to the beginning of the new year. Hobson’s photographs show several generations of family members participating in the ritual of applying flour or white clay to the faces of special kin. This tradition celebrates the bonds between relatives and is seen as a sign of respect and good energy moving into the new year. Godparents, cousins and grandchildren – and in the case of this work, a family’s loyal dog – are photographed in their homes, revealing the intimate and often undocumented customs of remote community life.