Power Through Paint

POWER

BRAG’s annual Noongar Country exhibition movingly reveals power and healing through artworks by local Indigenous artists.

By TORI WILSON.

Power to Indigenous south west artists is no doubt something worth celebrating, as is the process of healing across Noongar Country, Noongar Boodja.

Reflecting NAIDOC Week 2021’s theme Healing Country!, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery’s annual Noongar Country exhibition explores the concepts of power and healing through the works of contemporary Aboriginal artists.

Curator Amanda Bell says this year’s theme has resulted in a strong exhibition that’s rich in variety, with artwork mediums ranging from contemporary to traditional, bringing forth the outstanding talents of Aboriginal artists across Noongar Country.

“Some speak of pain, courage and survival, some of joy, beauty and healing,” she says.

“All are shared with an open heart and spirit for the community to see, and hear, and feel.”

Noongar woman Katelyn Whitehurst speaks of

through paint

identity and personal truth through her piece titled The Milk to My Coffee, showing at the exhibition.

Her work is a contemporary portraiture piece, depicting Katelyn alongside her father and nana, each of different skin tones.

As a white Indigenous Australian, Katelyn says she’s spent the entirety of her life explaining her identity to people.

“I can never forget my nana sharing her memory of coming to my pre-primary

BREAKING THE CHAINS

Opposite, Katelyn Whitehurst's The Milk To My Coffee and below, Maitland Hill's powerful work Wangkinny Boordiya Wirrin, Power, Strength & Justice (Talking Elder Spirits) are just some of the works by Indigenous artists on show at BRAG's annual Noongar Country exhibition.

class and someone telling her she was in the wrong place,” Katelyn says.

“My nana was a major influence on me as an artist. We were always playing with paint and Play-Doh when I was younger.

“After her passing, I felt I lost my connection (to my background), so in recent years I’ve been talking more about culture and trying to learn as much as I can.”

Katelyn says The Milk to My Coffee is about identifying as a Noongar woman despite not appearing as one in the eyes of society.

“The portrait is about power to myself for starting the conversation.

“I am a white Indigenous Australian. That’s my power.

“I tried to come up with an idea that was inclusive, but I wanted to talk about (my identity) and healing is starting that conversation.

“You heal through family connection, you heal through culture, you heal through tradition.”

Noongar woman Maya Hume has two pieces showing at the exhibition, each sharing stories of power and justice using a combination of contemporary and traditional techniques.

“I like to do traditional art,” Maya says.

“I like to paint people and animals. I also like to do landscapes.

“My own style is to use a bit of white colour and effects. I like to put animal prints around the paintings and dot painting around the faces.”

Maya’s first piece, titled Power and Peace, is comprised of acrylic on canvas and reflects a rainbow of skin tones across one tribe of people within Australia.

“It means nobody is different and we can all be the same,” Maya says.

Her second piece, titled In Justice, depicts a protest.

“The protest is about Indigenous people walking as one to get rights for the country, for the land and the people.”

Noongar man Maitland Hill tells powerful stories through his artwork, used as a medium to provide a voice to his ancestors and bring to life their old, traditional ways of being.

Maitland, a Ballardong and Wilman man, works with natural materials to craft unique pieces of work. Typically using plywood, he burns images into the wood to convey his stories.

His piece showing at the BRAG exhibition, titled Wangkininy Boordiya Wirrin, Power, Strength & Justice (Talking Elder Spirits), depicts two Aboriginal men in chains on plywood. Two physical spears frame the wood on either side, with kangaroo skin draped along the floor below the base.

“This artwork is an emancipatory piece about the prisoner history of the Noongar people,” says Maitland.

“My artwork tells a story and brings the old people back to life. In this artwork, I show people how Noongars were kept in chains on Rottnest Island.

“It is political, but it is also truth. My aim is to break the chains by exposing the truth of what happened to my old people.”

Maitland says the spears and kangaroo skins framing the work symbolise connection to country is unshakable and ever-present, despite any physical chains or prison walls.

“I am re-empowering them with the spears, like the old way of life.

“This is healing for me, but also connects me to our old people as I’m a voice for them,” he says.

“Healing is about connecting to country, connecting to your roots and your inner self.” BRAG Noongar Country 2021 Exhibition will be open until 22 August, from 10am to 4pm with free entry.