Sea and Mangrove Sand Crabs
“Heather Wunjarra Koowootha was born in 1966 in Cairns and grew up in Yarrabah. This exhibition brings together two series of watercolour paintings by Koowootha drawn from traditional ecological knowledge of plants and marine life passed down to her from her mother (Yidinji peoples, Yarrabah) and father (Wik-Mungkan peoples, Aurukun).
In 2019 Koowootha produced sixteen botanical works for the 2021 Ritual exhibition that explored the nutritional, material and magical properties of local flora used for food, healing and the production of hunting and gathering and ceremonial objects. In particular, the illustrations carry important knowledge associated with the medicinal and ritual uses of plants in birth, women’s business, marriage, death and other important cultural ceremonies.
These works are now held in the Gallery Collection, and in 2023 the Gallery, supported by Double R Arts Foundation commissioned Koowootha to produce a further twelve works that expanded into series to incorporate the local marine life used for food and healing practices by the Yidinji and Wik Mungkan peoples.
These exquisite drawings, each finished with handwritten text describing the specific qualities and uses of each species in Koowootha’s own words, offer a unique and rare document of the knowledge passed down through the generations.”
https://www.cairnsartgallery.com.au/collections/sea-and-mangrove-sand-crabs
Cray Fish Minna
“Heather Wunjarra Koowootha was born in 1966 in Cairns and grew up in Yarrabah. This exhibition brings together two series of watercolour paintings by Koowootha drawn from traditional ecological knowledge of plants and marine life passed down to her from her mother (Yidinji peoples, Yarrabah) and father (Wik-Mungkan peoples, Aurukun).
In 2019 Koowootha produced sixteen botanical works for the 2021 Ritual exhibition that explored the nutritional, material and magical properties of local flora used for food, healing and the production of hunting and gathering and ceremonial objects. In particular, the illustrations carry important knowledge associated with the medicinal and ritual uses of plants in birth, women’s business, marriage, death and other important cultural ceremonies.
These works are now held in the Gallery Collection, and in 2023 the Gallery, supported by Double R Arts Foundation commissioned Koowootha to produce a further twelve works that expanded into series to incorporate the local marine life used for food and healing practices by the Yidinji and Wik Mungkan peoples.
These exquisite drawings, each finished with handwritten text describing the specific qualities and uses of each species in Koowootha’s own words, offer a unique and rare document of the knowledge passed down through the generations.”
https://www.cairnsartgallery.com.au/collections/cray-fish-minna
#Invertefest inspiration:
Heather Wunjarra Koowootha (Wik-Mungkan & Djabuguy/Yidinj, b.1966)
Sea and Mangrove Sand Crabs & Cray Fish Minna, 2024
Watercolor & felt pen on paper
76 x 56 cm ea.
Cairns Art Gallery
Show info:
www.cairnsartgallery.com.au/whats-on/exh...
#FirstNationsArt #IndigenousArt
![“For Métis artist Christi Belcourt, politics, people, art and Mother Earth are as inextricably interwoven as the decades-old First Nations and Métis beading patterns she carefully replicates in her paintings.
[This work] features walleye fish from the Great Lakes and Northern Ontario waters which swim in a diamond pattern and are surrounded by jewel-toned water. As the fishes cut through the water, gold trails emerge from their fins.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:l5pcfqdnvtivhxufycjnvzui/bafkreigtjqsg3v5tfha55q623wutfdjw3bl7hogjykhbvwc624re2c3wvu)
