Medium:
Shells, velvet, fabric, glitter and craft.
Description:
The shell work of the Timbery and Russell families, Bidjigal people of La Perouse, carries within it stories of invasion, displacement, adaptation and cultural revival. It speaks of skills and traditions passed from generation to generation of Bidjigal women of this historic area, La Perouse, the birthplace of Australia.
The Bidjigal women of La Per have been earning an income from shell work for generations. They sold their works not only at La Perouse but also at stalls at Circular Quay and at the annual Royal Easter Show. Works by Queen Emma Timbery were sent to London for display in 1910.
By the 1940’s Esme Timbery, born in 1931, and her sister Rose joined the shell working sorority. It was Esme who was commissioned to make a piece of the Sydney Opera which was purchased by the Opera House. Esme, now in her 80’s has been represented in exhibitions since 1977 and is in State Gallery collections across Australia. In 2005 she won the NSW Parliament Indigenous Art Prize.
This ongoing practice of shell work has recontextualised the souvenir as an encounter. The object becomes metonymic of a lived experience.
Esme’s daughter Marilyn Russell is now continuing the tradition of La Per shell work. The piece here is a collaboration by Esme and Marilyn. They say their shell work is a continuation of Bidjigal artistic practice and a very important healing practice. It gives them a context within which to reflect upon their past and to share personal and traditional stories. “It makes us feel strong” says Marilyn. “I’m always happy when I am working with my shells”, says Esme.
Aboriginal curator and academic, Hetti Perkins says ” this work interrogates what is and what isn’t Aboriginal art… it challenges stereotypes… what’s contemporary… what’s traditional… what’s art…. what’s craft… how craft becomes collectible art.”