PHOTO: Jamie-Lea with her work at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre. IMAGE: Supplied
Local artist Jamie-Lea Trindall will have 17 works on display throughout NAIDOC (National Aboriginals’ and Islanders’ Day Observance Committee) Week in Canberra.
Her mother Darla and daughters Elka and Lexie joined her at Tuggeranong Arts Centre on 14 June for the opening of the All Guns Blazing exhibition, attended by around 45 people.
The works include black and white relief prints carved from sheets of linoleum as well as ceramic coolamons, shallow carry vessels with curved sides traditionally used by Aboriginal peoples, made from black clay.
During her artist talk, the Wiradjuri woman spoke about Aboriginal stockmen and the family histories that inspired her work.
“I am living proof of the trailblazers who survived in the front line of colonisation through sheer skill, and determination as agricultural pioneers be that droving cattle, wool trading, Shearers or camp cooks,” Jamie-Lea said.
“These works have been my voyage of discovery through not only the generations of family I know and love, but also those before that – traditional women who spoke in their own language when they met English shepherds or the convicts that were sent here because they were horse thieves.”
The exhibition also has a large tent installation made from five metres of cotton dyed with tea, eucalyptus and rusty horse shoes, as homage to three generations of Jamie-Lea’s family who travelled country NSW by horse drawn wagons.
NAIDOC Week runs from Sunday 7 July and to 14 July. The exhibition remains open until 10 August.
Jamie-Lea, also the Director of Outback Arts, told The Coonamble Times it is hard to explain the feeling from having her work on display at the centre.
“The artwork has been made during a personal process of discovering family stories and that takes so much time,” she said.
“Once it is on the wall for others to see, it does feel like you’re showing a piece of your soul.
“It’s also very rewarding to finally have works finished and looking amazing in a gallery after taking such time to create them.”