Beauty of nature

From 11 July –3 August, Coe Gallery –the UK’s first Aboriginal-owned art gallery dedicated to supporting emerging and established Aboriginal artists –will be presenting a group exhibition at The Vestibules. We speak to three artists about the inspiration behind their work and their deep connection to country and land...

This month, Coe Gallery –the UK’s first Aboriginal-owned art gallery based in Bristol –is presenting a group show of emerging and established Aboriginal artists from different regions across Australia. The exhibition, titled Summer , aims to create an uplifting but also educational atmosphere while showing the beauty and resilience of the many different Aboriginal cultures.

Running from 11 July –3 August at The Vestibules in City Hall on College Green, the exhibition will focus on the love of country and land. Coe Gallery founder, curator and artist Jasmine Coe hopes the joy of each artist’s portrayal of their connection to culture and country inspires a deep love and respect for nature in all who come to visit.

“Our artists believe it is important to share their stories and culture with UK audiences and how important it is to do so at a time when we face a changing climate,” says Jamsine. “We hope that these exhibitions and our artists’ works will act as a reminder of the 60,000 years’ worth of sustainable knowledge that has been passed down through generations and we hope that our exhibitions will create meaningful cultural exchange.”

Ahead of the launch in July, we caught up with three of the 10 artists featured in the exhibition to learn more about their own personal connections with their birthplace and the inspiration behind their work. Meet Hannah Lange, Cara Shields and Amanda Westley...

Hannah Lange | Wiradjuri artist

Tell us more about your background as a self-taught artist and your career so far...

In 2018, I moved away from my community and as a result of becoming a mother and leaving the area I wasn’t working in First Nations community work anymore (like I had done for 10 or so years). When the pandemic hit, I realised how disconnected I was feeling. Away from my family and First Nations connections. I felt the strong urge to start painting to keep myself connected while we were all locked down. It gave me a purpose and has continued to help me feel more and more connected to my country and ancestors. I was very lucky that people resonated with my work and my career has managed to grow from there.

Tell us about your work in this particular exhibition – the inspiration behind the pieces and the messages within them...

All of my work is inspired by country. Whether that be the Bundjalung Country that I live on now, my Wiradjuri lineage country or the beautiful Darug and Gundungurra Country that I grew up on. I want to bring awareness to the beauty of the smallest parts of nature. Highlighting that country does not belong to us, we belong to country.

Tell us more about your birth place – the Blue Mountains on Darug and Gundungurra country – and how you aim to keep your culture and knowledge alive in your work...

I was born and raised in a particularly beautiful place. Darug and Gundungurra Country (the Blue Mountains) is a heritage listed national park. With large escarpments and bush as far as the eye can see. I spent my childhood playing in waterfalls, in the bush, every day. I had no idea how lucky I was. I draw so much inspiration from this time and I built such a beautiful relationship with nature having this kind of upbringing. I think the answer to keeping our culture and knowledge alive is telling our stories and actively learning about our ancestors. I believe First People all over the world are the answer to saving our environment.

Cara Shields | Wiradjuri artist

Tell us about your background as an artist, your career so far and how your studies of Aboriginal Art and Cultural Practices have influenced your work...

When I was 16, I wanted to learn more about my culture so I studied Aboriginal Art and Cultural Practices in Dubbo (a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia). I reconnected with my art practice in 2018 but after the birth of my son, Clark, in 2020, I decided to properly give it go.

I exhibit on the Gold Coast, through Artlovers Australia and Jellurgal Aboriginal Culture Centre. Recently, I have collaborated with Tappeti Carpets in Sydney. Three of my designs are now licensed to create bespoke customs rugs.

I am also very proud to have my artwork incorporated into the building design of the University of Sydney’s School of Rural Health –a modern facility for doctors-in-training on the Dubbo campus. I was influenced by my studies to paint and draw inspiration from the area

I am from and to be original with my designs.

Tell us more about your work in this exhibition – the messages within your art and the inspiration behind each piece, particularly your inspiration from dendroglyphs and scar trees...

My art practice is a contemporary view on the traditional art form of tree carving (dendroglyph) and the removal of bark (scar). Dendroglyph Trees have thick stylised lines carved into the trunks to notify boundaries of tribal areas, bora ceremonial ground and burial sites. Scar Trees happened with the removal of bark. The shapes and sizes would be different each time for canoes, shields and coolamons. I mainly paint on canvas with acrylic and the traditional pigment ochre, sourced from the Dubbo area by my uncle, Wiradjuri Elder Peter Peckham. For me, this a strong connection in my contemporary art practice. It’s a merging of a traditional pigment and a modern medium and our traditional art form/way of living reinterpreted in a contemporary art setting. It is my two worlds coming together –I am Wiradjuri descended, I grew up on country but I did not live traditionally off the land.

Tell us more about the areas in which you were born and raised –Narromine and Dubbo NSW – and how you aim to keep your culture and knowledge alive in your work...

Narromine and Dubbo are positioned in Central Western New South Wales, about a five-hour drive from Sydney. Both of these town’s names are traditional Wiradjuri words. The spelling and the pronunciation has changed slightly. Narromine –‘ngarru-mayiny’ meaning ‘honey people’. Dubbo –‘thubbo’ meaning ‘red earth’ or ‘head covering’. Narromine is within the boundary of Wongaibon Tribe, which boarders the Wiradjuri Tribe.

Country can be dry and harsh in summer and icy in winter. This landscape is ancient, lots of big eucalyptus trees and red river gum trees along the Macquarie River (Wambuul). The landscape has dramatically changed. Our highway roads are on traditional walking paths/camping grounds. Due to this, a lot of dendroglyph/scar trees have been cut down to make way for modern highways and housing estates. My aim is to encourage people to stop and look around. Take in the landscape and feel the presence of our traditional ancestors, who fought hard for us to co-exist in this new world.

Amanda Westley | Ngarrindjeri artist

Tell us about your background as an artist and your career so far...

I am a self-taught artist. I visited Raukkan (originally established as Point McLeay Mission –an Australian Aboriginal community situated on the south-eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina and regarded as the home and heartland of Ngarrindjeri Country) when I was younger and saw art from my family. It inspired me to start painting Ngarrindjeri Country. I feel like my career so far has been so rewarding, but I am still learning and have so much I still want to achieve.

Tell us more about your work in this particular exhibition – the inspiration behind the pieces and the messages within them...

The inspiration for these pieces is Ngarrindjeri Country and the coastal town that I was born in. The colours you see on Ngarrindjeri Ruwi (Country) are so different from other areas.

Tell us more about your birthplace – Victor Harbor – how your family is one of the oldest Aboriginal families on the south coast and how you aim to keep your culture and knowledge alive in your art...

I was born in Pultong (Victor Harbor), it’s a small coastal town within Ngarrindjeri nation. The totem for Victor Hatbor is Kondoli (whale). Because I was born in Victor Harbor, the whale is one of my totems. My grandmother was part of the stolen generation, which I believe has contributed to the loss of our language. Through my art and through me learning the language, I hope to keep our culture alive and pass it on to my children. n

• Coe Gallery’s Summer exhibition is running from 11 July – 3 August at The Vestibules, City Hall, College Green, BS1 5TR; coegallery.com