Damien Shen has an Aboriginal mother and Chinese father, who separated when he was a child, prompting his Chinese grandparents to leave their homeland to help raise him.
"The traditional Chinese culture is very studious, very focused," Damien said.
"My grandfather was an entrepreneur, he only made it to year 6 when he had to work because they didn’t have a lot of money."
"By the time he was in his late 20s he was very, very wealthy but when the communists came through he lost that, and then had to start again. So they came to Australia basically to look after my sister and I, and so a lot of my personal values were passed down by my Chinese grandfather.
"When a child draws a picture of mummy and daddy it’s one of the family's most prized possessions."
Mr Shen is using the Adelaide Festival Centre exhibition Drawing on the heroes who shape us to express his appreciation for not just his grandfather’s sacrifices, but for the heroes amongst his Ngarrindjeri relatives like his uncle Major "Moogie" Sumner.
“One of the big things that probably changed the outcome of my life was the journey that uncle Moogie went on because there’s been drugs and alcohol in our family all the way through," he said.
"I think for uncle Moogie it’s probably alcohol, but there was once point in his life where he decided to stop drinking and he remains sober. He was able to get uncle Mulla to stop drinking as well, and then then two of them got my mum to stop drinking."
"The amount of strength that would take given all the other challenges in their lives… that inner strength is pretty powerful.”Renowned portraitist Daniel Connell is mentoring Mr Shen in this exhibition designed to encourage others to similarly recognise the heroes close to them- the family, friends and neighbours who have a more lasting influence than sports stars or celebrities.
“You’re actually stepping back from that alignment to celebrity, you’re saying actually I just want to align myself to what is important to me, what my value system is, what my identity is, who my people are."
"You just need to go through any person’s house who has got little kids and when the child draws a picture of mummy and daddy it’s one of the most prized possessions."
"The amount of honour and pride that a person has if somebody has drawn their picture - that’s powerful and it lasts a long time.”
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