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At DCJ’s offices at 6 Parramatta Square, Follow the Waters by Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay and Biripi artist Dennis Golding creates a meaningful connection to the history, culture and waterways of Parramatta. The artwork acknowledges the enduring relationship First Nations peoples have with this place and invites us to reflect on the stories, connections and custodianship that continue to shape Barramatta today.
Using his distinctive lined topography style, Dennis traces the Parramatta River, known as Barramatta in language, from Sydney Harbour through a network of creeks, catchments and waterways stretching into the western region. Flowing across the artwork like veins through the landscape, these waterways reveal the interconnected nature of Country and the communities it sustains.
Circular forms appear throughout the design, representing gathering places and waterholes where water would rest as it moved from higher ground. These elements recognise the river system as a vital shared resource for neighbouring Aboriginal clans across both coastal and inland regions, supporting life, connection and cultural exchange for thousands of years.
Through Follow the Waters, we honour the deep and ongoing connection between First Nations peoples and Barramatta. The artwork celebrates living culture, enduring custodianship and a profound sense of belonging, bringing a powerful expression of identity, history and shared connection to the workplace.
Dennis Golding is an artist born and raised on Gadigal Country, with ancestral ties to Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay Country in northwest NSW and Biripi Country on the mid-north coast.
He spent his childhood in the inner-Sydney Aboriginal community of Redfern, known as ‘The Block’, where watching his mother and grandmother paint large-scale works of native flora, fauna and cultural motifs shaped his early practice.
Dennis now works as an independent artist, curator and graphic designer, exploring lived experience and childhood memory to critique social, political and cultural representations of race and identity. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from UNSW Art & Design (2019) and received the 2020 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship. Dennis co-founded the Re-Right Collective, and his work continues to bring forward powerful representations of contemporary Aboriginal identity.
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