Dion Beasley

Born 1991 in Alice Springs, Australia Lives and Works in Tennant Creek, Australia Alywarr His father is from Owairtilla (Canteen Creek) and his mother is from Alpurrurulam (Lake Nash)

Johanna Bell

Born in Sydney, Australia Lives and Works in Darwin, Australia Her family migrated to Australia from South Africa and Holland

Presented at the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020) with generous assistance from the Powerhouse Museum and assistance from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Dion Beasley lives in Tennant Creek where he draws every day. As a deaf artist with muscular dystrophy, Dion uses drawing to communicate with the world. He depicts his family, the country where he grew up, the monsters he sees at night and all the dogs at Mulga Camp. Dion’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra among others. Since 2011, Dion has collaborated with Darwin-based author Johanna Bell on the creation of three picture books.

Johanna Bell is an award-winning author, Churchill Fellow and the founder of StoryProjects, a creative production house in Darwin with a commitment to enriching community through storytelling. She works with diverse communities to create works that promote empathy and bring landscapes and culture to life through story. Interested in hybrid forms, Johanna fuses fiction, poetry and audio storytelling to elevate new voices. She and Dion have worked together for eight years and their latest work, Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back is an illustrated memoir about Dion’s life.