Great minds think alike: An interview with Kellee Aberg and Rosie Sitorus
Regional Arts WA
This is Kellee Aberg and Rosie Sitorus – two regional artists who were brought together through the Country Arts WA Create Tank youth leadership program run in the lead up and during the Kalgoorlie Summit, 2014.
We caught up with Kellee and Rosie at the last Summit in Mandurah 2017 and had some time to reflect on all that had happened for them over the three years since they met.
Here’s what Kellee and Rosie had to say about what being involved in that Create Tank program in 2014 had meant to them:
Can you tell us a bit about that initial Create Tank program and what it was like for you both?
Rosie: “When we first met up everyone was a bit intimidated by everyone else’s artistic abilities. We all felt like that, like – I have no idea what I’m doing!”
“It’s an artist thing, we all assume other artists are doing this incredible stuff… but we never look at ourselves through the same lens, and then finally when you do that’s when you realise you’re all on the same footing.”
Kellee: “While we were all very different people, coming together helped us realise we shared a common experience.
“We realised we were all on the same journey together – as clichéd as it sounds.”
Kellee and Rosie in 2014, then again in 2017 performing at the Regional Arts Summit in Mandurah. Pictures by Paul MacPhail and Susie Blatchford.
So since the Kalgoorlie Summit you have both done some pretty cool stuff together. It was a much more literal journey that sparked the creative energy between you both. Can you tell us how that happened?
K: “Yes, while we were there we went to Kmart together – It wasn’t until we set off that we realised we were both going for the same thing and for the same reason; bike shorts.
“It was this shared experience – I think we really bonded over that.”
So the bike shorts experience stuck and become the central theme of your show Fat Girls In Bike Shorts?
K: “The show we have created is built out of our common experiences – that we had both bonded over in Kalgoorlie.”
R: “It was the validation that our shared story was worthy of artistic expression – I would say something and Kel would reflect that.
“Had we not been in Kalgoorlie together at Create Tank we would have never discovered that.
“Opportunities like Create Tank are especially important for those in regional WA.”
K: “You’ve been growing up in a small town, but then it gives you this perspective that there’s a whole world out there. I’m not the only one out there, I don’t have to make these wins alone…”
R: “Having been a regional artist I understand there’s sometimes this idea that you have to go to Perth, or Sydney or Melbourne is where you have to be, but that’s not the case, and Country Arts WA does such great work in making sure that regional artists are a bigger part of the arts community within the State and within the whole country.”
We love bringing people together to create and connect, and this year you can help us do that by giving to regional arts and culture this Christmas. Our giving page is over here, and anything you can spare will help us continue to deliver programs that empower young people in regional WA.
If you want to see Kellee and Rosie performing their incredible show you can buy tickets to Fat Girls in Bike Shorts this Fringe Festival 2018 for both Geraldton and Perth here: https://fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/fat-girls-in-bike-shorts-fw2018
