Aboriginal artist Jasmine Sarin thought it was a case of mistaken identity when asked if her art could be splayed across a billboard representing the Dharawal people.
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Scouts had seen the 32-year-old's work hanging in the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-op gallery in Leichardt.
She was one of three artists selected for an NRMA Insurance and Aboriginal Land Councils campaign to increase awareness about traditional lands.
"I was like 'are you sure you've got the right artist, are you sure it's my work that you like and you didn't get me mixed up with anybody else'?" she said. "I was absolutely thrilled."
Her work, Country to Coast, can be seen southbound on the Princes Highway at Heathcote. It reflects where her family are from - the Illawarra and South Coast to the central west of Coonabarabran.
"We have so much knowledge and history and culture in the area that I feel like now it's only starting to be celebrated," Sarin said.
"As a country we have so much to show off to the rest of the world."
Sarin, who grew up in Wollongong, likened Aboriginal Australia to Europe in that each region had different styles of art, different languages, laws and storytelling methods.
"I am absolutely proud to be First Nations and to identify as being aboriginal," she said.
"It hasn't always been the case, but I think we're slowly as a country moving forward and really being able to celebrate the stories and the culture and the traditions."
The other two billboards celebrate First Nationals people from Wonnarua and Wiradjuri, and can be found on the Newell Highway south of Dubbo and the New England Highway south of Singleton.