Captain James Cook (2020) Painting by Tom Aberneithie

As an Anglo-Indian Australian, the legacy of Captain Cook was embedded in me at an early age. I remember visiting his cottage (transported brick by brick from Yorkshire) in Melbourne as a young child and marvelling how someone from such a humble home could become such a legendary figure. The past might of Britannia was only reemphasised at home by my parents who spoke of England with wistful Mother Country overtones. However, developing predictable Australian irreverence as a young man, I began to regard colonialism in a less romantic way. Reflecting on myself being a product of England’s past naval exploits, both being nurtured in Australia and the nature of my Indian ethnicity, I decided to revisit the image of Cook and produce this painting. In graphic style I reproduce the facial detail from the iconic 1775 painting by Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland. Using thick paint and medium I explore an expansion of palette, something diverging from the union Jack’s red, white and blue. These hues, combined with sludgy greys and an oily, teary murkiness creates a sense of unrest reflecting the turbulence affecting modern Australia; the struggle to find peace with its aboriginal past and acceptance of an ethnically changing population. In short, issues surrounding national identify. These I analogise to the stormy, oceanic tempests, which Cook himself would have faced pursuing Terra Australis.