Paintings
Acrylic on Canvas
- 2017
Connect & Discover
It was within yarning with Elders that connections to personal totems was explained to me, and the way these totems will present themselves. When I started dancing as a young girl, I would always unknowingly mimic the Brolga’s ‘Burralgang’ ‘s fluid, graceful movements. When dancing traditional Aboriginal dance, I always drawn to song lines involving the Burralgang. It was in reflection that even the first animal I painted was a Burralgang, as they hold so much meaning and significance to me for the way they hold themselves and express who they are to one another.
Gather & Create
The discovery led me to create another piece, which is this beauty, which I call “Brolga Dreaming”. This painting is a representation of how I interpret the Dreaming story.
Brolga, as our Dreamtime stories share, was a young girl that captivated everyone with her dancing, including Waiwera the evil Spirit. One day, he decided to take her. Waiwera swept Brolga up and off her feet in a willy-willy ‘dust storm’. When the elders & community went to find Brolga, what they found was a tall, beautiful, gray bird that danced gracefully as she flapped her wings. That’s when Burralgung became who she is today.
As one of my favourite Dreaming stories, I then created this beautiful acrylic painting on canvas. The result was this piece of a breathtaking and graceful bird whom I recognise as my personal totem.
Share & Embrace
At present, it’s displayed in my home and also has held a space on the wall that THE ROOST Newcastle when I was co working there. It holds a special spot in my heart for being my first Brolga painting.
Sold.
