Batchelor Institute Visual Arts student has taken her artwork online and started a digital business called Rebel Quest Designs. Using the skills she learnt whilst studying a Certificate IV in Visual Arts, Moya Lee has begun selling her designs on t-shirts, bags, mugs and other items via an online retailer.

“My designs are a reflection of my culture and environment. At the heart of it is who I am as an Aboriginal person,” said Ms Lee.

Ms Lee has been studying a Certificate IV at Batchelor Institute’s Desert Peoples Centre campus in Alice Springs and is set to graduate this year.

Visual Arts Lecturer Brigida Stewart spoke about the benefits of new and affordable digital platforms, which allow artists to sell their work online and opens up new doors for individual entrepreneurship.

“For many artists, social networking has been instrumental in transforming the Internet into an important avenue for introducing and presenting their art and getting exposure. As well as attracting not only collectors but also exhibition opportunities, and for making sales on their various products,” said Ms Stewart.

“They can also keep track of their portfolio and as long as they keep active online, they will be successful.  For our students, not having shop front overheads is a big factor – as well as location, with lots of our students living in a remote areas.”

Ms Lee’s designs come from in-depth research and respect for her cultural background. As an artist, she is bringing her traditional knowledge into her digital creations.

“Her ideas are often complex, soulful and precise.  She has a deep cultural philosophy and reverence for her ancestors and for her future,” said Ms Stewart.

You can purchase Moya’s work here on Redbubble, a creative marketplace that artists from around the world submit work to.