Burruguu Art: Aboriginal artist Sandon Gibbs-O'Neill unpacks journey

Through great feats and past challenges, the life he leads today carries some of the deepest and most sentimental moments, with his Aboriginal art brand, Burruguu Art, thriving since its birth in 2016.

"I never thought that in my life I'd be an artist, not in my wildest dreams," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"As a kid, I grew up playing rugby league and I was relatively good at the sport, but it's such a hard thing to crack and I guess it didn't really fall my way.

"Discovering art, though, it was the same feeling I got like with sports - where you get addicted to something and you fall in love with it - and I fell in love with Aboriginal art."

Making a living from his "full-time gig" now - which has an Instagram following exceeding 30,000 people - Mr Gibbs-O'Neill's artistic interests were originally sparked back in 2013.

Studying a Bachelor of Community and Social Development through the University of Western Sydney, the NSW Central West-based artist felt like something was missing.

Sitting in a lecture on Aboriginal culture during his first year, he recalls a "lightbulb moment" in the second semester.

"I realised that I'd been learning about a western world, when I've got over 60,000 years of my own culture that I should be learning about," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"And I knew I wanted to explore it more and I could feel that really strongly - it was a bit of a lightbulb moment."

After rightfully earning his degree, the former Canobolas High School captain made the decision to dive intensely into his Indigenous heritage, mentored in art by a cherished relative.

"I'd been working at the TAFE in Orange for six years at the time and I took one year of leave without pay," he said.

"My partner and I moved up to the Central Coast to spend time with my [now late] grandfather, Tex Skuthorpe, because I needed to connect and learn about the essence of Aboriginal culture, how complex and amazing that society of living was.

"Pop [Tex] had his own art exhibition coming up, so I jumped on board with that and he showed me the basics of Aboriginal art and the way he does it, the way he was taught ... so, I built off of that - and the rest is history."

Never intending to take it up professionally, Mr Gibbs-O'Neill says he's always been more of a visual and hands-on learner.

Academically struggling during his school years, the artist says he had a lot of difficulties with literacy and numeracy in particular.

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So, with the arts offering him both connection to culture and internal peace, the process makes a lot of sense to him.

"And it was a bit of a confronting thing - that you were one of the gifted footy players, the school captain ... but you needed a reader and writer to help you to do your year 12 exams," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"It's been a long journey to where I am now, but when I think of what I do and what I have in my life today, I don't think I'd change any of it at all."

Fortunate enough to have a lot of support during school, Mr Gibbs-O'Neill says he also sought educational support to complete his university studies, as well.

"On your certificate at the end of it, it doesn't say that you got through it with a tutor - it just says that you got through it," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"You'd be surprised how many other people go through life with help as well and I guess as you grow older, you become more cool with that."

With a takeaway message for those in similar situations, his encouragement of pursuit is clear, in spite of life's adversities.

"When I speak to younger kids through the schools and community art projects I've been involved in, I tell them it doesn't matter how you get things done - it's just about doing it," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"My hope is that young people can grow up thinking the best way to go about things is to just be yourself - it might be a slower rise to get to where you want to get to, but just keep going and be you along the way.

"For me, I get to meet a lot of amazing people along the way - through commissions, workshops, different conversations - and I learn more about me and my culture, where I come from."

While it "definitely hasn't been smooth", his hurdles have helped him to build character, bring indescribable rewards and allowed him to sift through the layers of his identity, one by one.

"I think everyone has hardships in their life - I think some have it more than others, significantly harder, but you learn a bit more about yourself," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"For my partner and I, we stepped away from full-time work to freelancing, and our first daughter was only a one-year-old at the time when we both left our jobs, so it was kind of scary.

"But workwise, I'm not bound by anyone and I've got full control over my own life; and it's also really rewarding in the sense that you know that if you don't put in the work, you don't get paid.

"And I still have to pinch myself that I get to have breakfast with my partner and our two daughters every morning - it's opened up a whole other world for me."

With only 10 to 15 commission projects accepted annually, the artist's bookings for 2023 are already bursting at the seams.

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Though, he'll plan to "step away" for a small moment in the near future, which he says will allow for a deeper understanding of Aboriginal culture - which, in turn, will pour even more meaning into his future works.

"My grandfather would always say, 'if you think you know everything about something, then you're ignorant'," Mr Gibbs-O'Neill said.

"I'm very open in saying I don't know everything about Aboriginal culture and I'll be forever learning, because our culture is amazing and the history, it's mind-blowing.

"It's been a whirlwind of a journey and I don't know where Burruguu will be in a couple of years, but I do want to move away from commissioning soon and step into learning about my culture more heavily.

"I'm always searching for more when it comes to Aboriginal art and it's transformed my way of thinking about things to another level.

"I'm just very, very grateful for my life today."