Opening night: 5 – 7pm Friday 5 July 2024
Welcome to Country by Nickolla Clark and performance by Angel White
Curated by Dr Bronwyn Bancroft AM and Kylie Caldwell, the Longstanding exhibition features 13 Bundjalung artists: Bindimu, Sonya Breckenridge, Kylie Caldwell, Kristina Davis, Janelle Duncan, Tracey Duroux, Kim Healey, Wayne King, Arminel Nagas, Jasmin Stanford, Tim Stanford, Shaun Tucker and Jai Walker.
Each artist participated in the 'Bulaan Dalang Galii Naa' artist residency program and the exhibition showcases artworks created during that time.
The ‘Bulaan Dalang Galii Naa’ program, developed by The Returning Indigenous Corporation in collaboration with Arts Northern Rivers, supports emerging creative practitioners to foster connections, explore diverse art forms and mediums, and enhance skills in the art business.
Proudly supported by The Returning, Arts Northern Rivers and Create NSW.
ARTIST BIOS
BINDIMU BIO
Bindimu is a multi-disciplinary artist and curator. Her practice includes fibre art and sand painting, DJing, soundscapes, and cultural dance, prioritising the preservation of Indigenous arts practices such as fibre processing while living in a colonial landscape. Connection to Country is the foundation of Bindimu’s career as a full-time artist. Building on mastering her practice as a weaver/fibre artist, Bindimu was the recipient of a 2023 Create NSW Arts and Cultural funding which financed the creation of a new collection of wearable artworks entitled Numbuh exhibited at her first solo at Boomalli Aboriginal Art Gallery. Created with natural and raw fibres, natural dye pigments, the collection was a culmination of 34 individual pieces, the artworks were presented and modeled by six Indigenous performers in a runway style exhibition. The collection is described as ‘Blak Futurism’, an Indigenous perspective on the western ideologies of a post-apocalyptic world.
SONYA BRECKENRIDGE BIO
Sonya Breckenridge is a contemporary artist of Dunghutti / Bundjalung (Nyangbal / Widjabul) heritage. Based in Wollongbar northern NSW, her work in painting, weaving and public art is a representation of her family history, memories and connection to culture. Sonya grew up on Cabbage Tree Island and spent time on her father’s ancestral land of Green Hill before returning to Ballina. These rich experiences of living and connecting together with family on Country have informed many of Sonya’s paintings. These stories have come from listening, understanding and respecting her family and Elders. Her vibrant colour palette and symbolic linework shares her connection to water and stories of different meeting places, often representing her people and her family. She has six children and five grandchildren, all of which are an inspiration in her storytelling.
KYLIE CALDWELL BIO
Kylie Caldwell is a unique Bundjalung artist & mentor is based in Northern Rivers, NSW. Her creative practice is a dynamic blend of contemporary and traditional Aboriginal values and themes, drawing from her rich cultural experiences. She plays with allegory, metaphors, and authentic imagery to look into intimate cultural codes, highlighting the values of perseverance, evolvement, and grit. The significance of kinship, customs, and ongoing custodianships of homelands are her guiding principles.
KRISTINA DAVIS BIO
Kristina Davis is a proud Yuwi Cobble Cobble and South Sea Islander woman. Kristina is a healer, supporting people to come back to right relation with land and themselves. Kristina is passionate about art and culture, and telling stories through her paintings. She enjoys using big, bright colours to emphasise the beauty of the country she grew up on. She remembers going to the islands with her mother and seeing the country and the coral reef, which informs her designs incorporating those bright beautiful colours of country. Kristina Davis is currently completing a residency and mentorship with The Returning and Arts Northern Rivers that will be completed at the end of 2024.
JANELLE DUNCAN BIO
Janette (Janelle) Duncan was born 1964 in Mungindi, Australia and is a proud Kamilaroi woman. Aunty Janelle joined Aunty Margaret Torrens, Theresa Bolt and Kylie Caldwell to create the Casino Wake Up Time women's weaving group.
Katina Celsy was the first teacher for the group. Janette Duncan has held several exhibitions with the group locally on Bundjalung country as well as showing at Boomalli Gallery in Sydney and the Biennale in Sydney 2022. Aunty Janelle loves weaving as it is a healing art which brings her closer to culture and supports her wellbeing. She is currently studying Aboriginal and Torres Islander Cultural Arts at TAFE NSW, and is also undertaking a one year artist residency with The Returning and Arts Northern Rivers.
TRACEY DUROUX BIO
Tracey Duroux is a proud Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr woman who currently resides on Bundjalung land. Tracey designs and handpaints jewellery, paints using acrylics, and is a contemporary weaving artist. She is a weaving teacher who encourages other young people to pick up culturally slow art practices to connect them to their ancestors. Tracey is a self taught graphic designer and she co-illustrated a book in 2011 called "yearning to go home" with John Rotunah, written by Paul Ishiguchi. Tracey creates for her own wellbeing and to share her family stories through cultural practices. She is currently undergoing a 12 month artists residency with The Returning and Arts Northern Rivers.
KIM HEALEY BIO
Deeply connected to her culture and country, Kim Healey has forged a reputation for her storytelling through a unique array of artistic mediums.
Working and creating out of her small studio cottage on the coastlines of the Clarence Valley, Kim continues to attract and engage a diverse audience, using a contemporary palate, modern design, deeply embedded with her heritage through the Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung people.
She strives to add additional dimensions to her art forming a strong sense of connection. Entwining color, light, and shadow, to bring a deeper meaning to her pieces – she has developed works across many mediums including photography, collage, printing, 3D imagery and sculpture. Spanning decades her exhibitions and global sales continue to build her reputation in the Indigenous art and design world.
Her recent sculptural work truly wraps the audience in the breadth of the colours and unique textures of her connection country and culture.
WAYNE KING BIO
Wayne King is an early career Aboriginal artist working with acrylic on canvas. He is a Widjabul Wia-bal, Githabul, Nyangbal and Dunghutti man living on Bundjalung Country in northern NSW. Wayne uses symbols to represent stories of community coming together, meeting places, animal tracks and waterholes. His paintings are a way for Wayne to learn more about culture, and to focus and have a clear mind. He is interested in trying different styles and processes.
ARMINEL NAGAS BIO
Arminel Nagas is an emerging artist whose work is an extension of her ancestry and cultural experiences. A contemporary Aboriginal artist from Bundjalung: Wahlubal and Gullabul, with heritage tied to South Sea Islanders, Arminel uses art to tell stories, celebrate culture and Country, and to continue the legacy of her parents and grandparents. She works across painting and wearable art such as jewellery and screen-printed clothing. Arminel has recently completed two murals titled ‘Wogun Webbard’ at the local school and preschool in Kyogle, in collaboration with local Bundjalung artist Jai Walker. Arminel has also been managing ‘Keeping Our Freedom Youth (KOFY)’, a local Aboriginal gallery and shop in Casino, and connecting with artists creating on Bundjalung country. Arminel’s practice shows the next generation of mob how to be creative with your own vision and to share knowledge of Country with community and beyond.
JASMIN STANFORD, DREAMING OF COUNTRY BIO
Jasmin is a Githabul Bundjalung artist based in Kyogle, NSW. She works across print-making, painting, ceramics, and sculpture. Drawn to the natural environment, her work explores her connection to Country and often reflects native flora and fauna such as eucalyptus, mirris (wild dogs), gihburs (sugar gliders) and binging (turtles). Favouring the immediacy of screen-printing, her process driven practice uses hand drawn and hand cut designs on sustainable apparel.
Jasmin is currently involved in a six month textiles residency through Arts Northern Rivers to further develop her textiles work. Recently, Jasmin’s focus has been developing her ceramics practice, experimenting with sculpture particularly wombats and burribis (koalas), and bowls of which she exhibited in a group show in Japan. Jasmin collaborates with her partner, Tim Standford as ‘Dreaming of Country’, a namesake which was born out of a deep interest in returning to Country.
TIM STANFORD, DREAMING OF COUNTRY BIO
Tim Stanford is a Yuwaalaraay Gamilaraay storyteller, living and working on Bundjalung Country, NSW. Originally taught by his Grandfather, Tim incorporates his experiences of living and painting with other mobs across Australia. His practice explores his Dreaming track and the Country he lives on. He works across multiple artforms including painting, ceramics and sculpture. Tim collaborates with his partner, Jasmin Stanford as ‘Dreaming of Country’, a namesake which was born out of a deep interest in returning to Country.
SHAUN TUCKER BIO
Shaun Tucker is a proud Wakka Wakka and Gangulu man, and an emerging visual artist based in Meanjin, Brisbane. With a trades background, Shaun’s works experiment with textures and forms spanning acrylic painting, ceramics and textiles. First inspired to grow his creative practice at an on-country camp, Shaun’s works explore songlines and his relationships with animals. Shaun is excited to continue learning and creating, building a practice grounded in reflection and connection to self.
JAI WALKER BIO
Jai Walker is a Wahlubal and Galibal man retaining, sharing and preserving Indigenous culture. His practice spans painting, drawing and cultural artefacts, moving between a range of materials including acrylic, ochre, clay, wood and weaving. He captures stories, knowledge and what has been passed on to bring awareness to how in depth Indigenous culture always has been and always will be. His work invites a more simplistic way of living and giving back to offer an alternative to contemporary times. Jai often describes his paintings as creating themselves, as he has a strong spiritual connection to his old people.