KONSTANTINA | Wumera Nangamay - A Salt Lake Series

Cooee Art Leven

17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, Sydney Gadigal Country, Eora Nation

Wumera Nangamay

A Salt Lake Series

SOLO EXHIBITION

Wumera Nangamay - A Salt Lake Series

KONSTANTINA (Kate Constantine)

13 June - 13 July 2024

OPENING | Thursday 13th June 2024, 6-8pm

Welcome to Country | UNCLE RAY DAVISON

Opening Address | PROFESSOR LISA PULVER JACKSON AM

COOEE ART LEVEN

17 Thurlow Street

Redfern NSW 2016

cover image | Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #3, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen, 102 x 102 cm

inside front cover image | Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #10, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen, 101 x 152 cm

inside back cover image | Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #11, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen, 101 x 152 cm

Photo: Coedie McCarthy

GARANGAL/North Head

Wumera Nangamay

A Salt Lake Series

Artist Statement

Translation: To fly like a bird or a spear through the sky into dreaming (‘nanga’- sleep, ‘may’ - eye)

Our connection to Country embodies more than merely the physical realm, it also allows us to connect spiritually. It is this spirituality that is often spoken of in Western terms as ‘dreaming’. To me, growing up in an urban city, this complex spiritual understanding was very limited. It is only now as an adult, a mother and woman living in regional Australia, without all the clutter and noise of a city, that I have begun to understand, to lean into this way of being and knowing.

One of the Gadigal songlines; a physical and spiritual connection to a place other than our own Country, connects the Gadi to Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre) the great salt lake that occupies 9,700 square kilometres of the desert and the wider basin area it sits within spans the intersection of South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

I have long been fascinated with this place, well before I knew of the songline and its significance to my ancestors. This lake is arid, dried out and overwhelmingly beautiful in its many states of living and being. The lake and its creeks, waterholes and tributaries only flow after the great desert rains and have been cared for by Arabana custodians for tens of thousands of years.

There is also a very special Gadi story of the Garanga (Pelican) that follows breeding cycles between Warrane (Sydney) and Kati Thanda; it demonstrates a deep knowing of animal, spirit, people and place.

It is this wisdom of the cycles, this knowing of place that kicked off this series, a study of our great salt lakes, as seen by a bird soaring through the sky, dreaming of our big Countries.

KONSTANTINA

101 x 152cm

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #11, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen

91 x 122 cm

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #5, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen

Photo: Sabine Bannard

KONSTANTINA

101 x 152 cm

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #10, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen

KONSTANTINA

acrylic

102 x 102 cm

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #2, 2024

on Belgian linen

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan

acrylic on Belgian linen 101x 101 cm

#12, 2024

KONSTANTINA

acrylic on Belgian linen

102 x 102 cm

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #3, 2024

SALT LAKE PHOTO

KONSTANTINA

Wumera

acrylic on Belgian linen

91 x 122 cm

Nangamay - Saltpan #4, 2024

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #1, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen 75 x 75 cm

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #9, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen

76 x 76cm

The lake and its creeks, waterholes and tributaries only flow after the great desert rains and have been cared for by Arabana custodians for tens of thousands of years.

-Kate

Constatine

KONSTANTINA

Wumera

acrylic

76 x 76 cm

Belgian

Nangamay - Saltpan #6, 2024

on

linen

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #7, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen 61 x 61 cm

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #8, 2024 acrylic on Belgian linen 61 x 61 cm

KONSTANTINA

Wumera Nangamay - Saltpan #13, 2024

acrylic on Belgian linen 101x 101 cm

“I am Kate Constantine, a concrete Koori, from the big, bustling urban metropolis, known today as the City of Sydney.

I am a proud Gadigal woman, mother, and contemporary artist of the Eora Nation.

These are my stories of Ngura, of Country.

I invite you to enjoy them.”

“Kate’s love and passion for her Culture and her art practice is something that I am personally so very proud of.” - Uncle Ray Davison (Gadigal Elder)

‘‘We use this book as an important tool for learning and share this with the University community whom operate and connect here on this land. It’s an enriching tool for leaders and helps to provide powerful meaning to how we relate to the country we work on. It contributes to the timeless practice of knowledge exchange here on Gadigal Country.’’

-Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver AM Deputy

Vice-Chancellor

Indigenous Strategy and Services the University of Sydney

“Every library or any person with any sort of connection to Sydney needs to have this book” -Professor Jakelin Troy Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research, The University of Sydney

Ko nsta ntina

PRIZES & RECOGNITION

2024 Published book “Gadigal Ngura”. Australia

2024 Published book “L’art de l’engagement” (The Art of Commitment). France

2023 National Capital Arts Prize - Finalist

2022 National Emerging Art Prize - Finalist

2022 Ocean Shores Art Expo - Finalist

2022 Arts In The Valley - Finalist

2022 Art Lovers Australia Prize - Finalist

2021 Fishers Ghost Art Prize - Finalist

2021 Ocean Shores Art Expo - Finalist (highly commended)

2021 BAM, Byron Art Prize - Finalist

2021 The Voice Australia, Artwork & visuals for Grand Finale

2021 Keynote speaker, inaugural TEDx Byron Bay. Theme ‘the space between’ 2021 Member of Indigenous Art Steering Committee for Waverley Council

2021 Art Lovers Australia Prize - Finalist

2020 BAM, Byron Art Prize - Semi finalist

2020 Border Art Prize, Tweed Regional Gallery - Finalist (highly commended)

SOLO & SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 ’Garrigarang Badu’ - Arts d’Australie • Stéphane Jacob, Paris. FR [solo]

2023 ‘Sydney Contemporary’ - Carriage Works, Sydney. AU [group]

2023 ‘Parcours des Mondes’ - Paris. FR [group]

2023 ‘Connection’ - The Lume, Melbourne, AU [group]

2023 ‘Antica Namur’ - Namur. BE [group]

2023 ‘Antica Bruxelles’ - Bruxelles, BE [group]

2023 ‘Black AND White’ - Cooee Art Leven, Sydney. AU [solo]

2023 ‘Djiyadi Ngumun’ - Liberty Place, Sydney. AU [solo]

2023 ‘Ancrage’ - Arts d’Australie • Stéphane Jacob, Paris. FR [group]

2022 ‘Connection’ - National Museum of Australia, Canberra. AU [group]

2022 ‘Pink Heater’ - Hôtel de Crillon, in assoc Arts d’Australie • Stéphane Jacob, Paris, FR [group]

2022 ‘Ngawiya Ngubadi’ - The Rodd, Sidney Nolan Trust, Presteigne. UK [solo]

2022 ‘Tjukurpa’ - Aboriginal Art Galleries, London. UK [group]

2022 ‘Raining On Eora’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney. AU [solo]

2021 ‘Negative Space’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bangalow. AU [solo]

2020 ‘East Coast Matters’ - Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney. AU [group]

2019 ‘Blak Enough’ - Ninbella Gallery, Bungalow. AU [solo]

2019 ‘Colour Correction’ - Tweed Rgioal Gallery, Murwillumbah. AU [solo]

PUBLIC ART / COMMERCIAL WORK

2024 Sydney Fish Markets, Sydney. [Reconciliation Action Plan Artwork & Commission]

2023 Qantas Domestic Terminal, Sydney. [Mural]

2023 Burwood Urban Park, Burwood Council, Burwood. [Artwork for built environment]

2023 NSW Ambulance Sydney Central Super Hub, Sydney. [Mural]

2023 Tweed Hospital, Cudgen. [Artwork commissions x3]

2023 SalesForce Head office, Sydney. [Mural]

2022 Alpha H, National Campaign. [Christmas Packaging]

2022 Westfield, Warringah Mall. [External Mural]

2022 Westfield, Parramatta. [Internal Mural]

2022 Australian Passport Office, Sydney. [Mural & artwork commissions x2]

2022 Symantec House, 207 Kent Street, Sydney. [Artwork for mural, wallpaper & decals]

2022 Baker McKenzie, Barangaroo, Sydney. [Acknowledgment of Country plaque & artwork]

2022 While You Were Sleeping, ANU & in conjunction National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. [Murals]

2021Liberty Finance Head Office, Melbourne. [Murals & decals]

2021 Central Station, Sydney. [Hoardings]

2020 Chris O’Brien - YouCan Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. [Mural & Artwork commission]

2020 Uniting Church National office, Sydney. [Artwork commission]

2018 Byron Shire Council Laneway project, Byron Bay. [Mural]

2017 Lane Cove Council rejuvenation project, Lane Cove. [Mural]

Ko nsta ntina

Artist Bio

Konstantina (Kate Constantine) neo-contemporary Aboriginal artist, author and activist.

“My arts practice is my act of storytelling and reclamation, it is highly detailed in both style and cultural substance. I like to think my works represent a document in time to help connect both Aboriginal & non-Aboriginal peoples to our rich Culture; our past, our present and our future.”

Konstantina (Kate Constantine) is a proud Gadigal woman of the Eora nation and a neo-contemporary Indigenous artist. She reimagines the traditions of her people and provides a modern narrative for all people to better understand a First Nations perspective as the fabric of ‘Australia’.

As a descendant of the Gadigal, she is passionate about her language, Culture and histories, much of which has been lost, misplaced, or manipulated since the dawn of colonisation. As such, her practice is heavily interconnected with her Mob and their oral histories and married with her academic research.

Konstantina is represented by galleries in Paris, London, Eora (Sydney), Naarm (Melbourne), and Wooditup (Margaret River), where her solo shows have sold out consistently for almost a decade. She has been a finalist in over twenty prizes and awards, and has been profiled in print and on television, and her work has been featured in pop culture, by high profile restaurants, and comissioned by corporate institutions.

Her public artworks are the most recent addition to her practice and have seen her take over shopping centres, parklands, and office buildings with her trademark contemporary edge.

Her artworks are a physical manifestation of these stories and histories, documents in time to reconnect her people to their Country.

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Ancient soils, ancient culture.

MUNDA WINES