Linear Artists: Vicki West

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Th58ipROw&feature=emb_title

I am a proud Pakana and Trawlwoolway woman, mother, grandmother, artist from Tebrakunna Country in northeast Tasmania.

I use kelp as a metaphor for survival. Traditionally, it was used to make water carriers, playing an essential role in the lives of the old people of Tasmania, as a part of their everyday toolkit. I have used the jackie vine as a metaphor for unwelcome pests in our own environment, as it’s a native plant but is often considered a pest. My work is influenced by history and the historical ideology that we don’t exist. That Truganini was the last of our people, supposedly. I dispute this using my arts practice to reiterate that ‘we are still here’. Vestra is a body of work created for my grandson, shortly after his birth, and explores the idea of protecting, sharing and maintaining culture, each of the nine pods containing personal and cultural material and knowledge for him to discover.

Milaythina takila is a celebration of the continuance of culture. Exploring notions of resilience and the importance of intergenerational practices for sharing of culture and cultural knowledge. The 143 woven circles reference the years since the passing of Truganini. Many historical and current-day people believe that the Tasmanian Aboriginal people became extinct upon her death in 1876. The government of the day proclaimed she was the last full-blood Tasmanian Aborigine, hence evolved the prevailing myth of extinction.

Peeling back the physical and psychological layers built up over time allows us to find an indexed truth often hidden by social and political agendas. These works invite the viewer to explore that which is below the surface and that which contributes collectively to the formation of the present day. Accessed from: https://maas.museum/linear-artists-vicki-west/

Untitled 1, 2008 Launceston white flag iris (Diplarrena moraea), bull kelp (Durvillaea potatorum)

teyenebe Vicki West

‘Working with the traditional materials and in the traditional ways has been important for me in reconnecting with the Aboriginal heritage and culture. Sitting with other women in the Community, and sharing stories while we weave, much in the same way as it has been for thousands of generations is a very grounding experience.’ Vicki West (born 1960) is a Launceston based artist. Utilising a variety of mediums to create contemporary art works Vicki’s work ranges from small individual forms to large scale, often political, installations. Vicki studied textiles at the University of Tasmania, Launceston graduating with first class Honours BFA in 2001 and MFA in 2008. Vicki has exhibited extensively throughout Australia over the past decade and is represented in numerous public collections. Vicki grew up with her maternal (non-Aboriginal) grandmother Constance Milbourne who was a renowned craftswomen, learning many skills including weaving and basketry from an early age. She was first introduced to the tradition of Tasmanian Aboriginal basket weaving through a cultural workshop in the early 1990s. A strong advocate for sharing of traditional skills and knowledge within the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, Vicki has been an active participant in a broad range of cultural projects, both in the Aboriginal community and more broadly over the past ten years—including her work as a tutor, mentor and artist within the tayenebe project.

©2009 Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. All rights reserved. Possum basket, 2008 larapuna (Eddystone Point), Launceston white flag iris (Diplarrena moraea), possum skin

Water carrier, 2008 Launceston bull kelp (Durvillaea potatorum), red-hot poker (Kniphofia sp.), tea tree (Melaleuca sp.)

vestra, 2006–08 Launceston bull kelp (Durvillaea potatorum), netting twine, found objects