Award-winning Badu Island artist Matilda Nona shows off her innovative ink-making process. Photo: Supplied.
A Badu Island artist is more at one with her work than ever before after diving into the world of ink making.
After working under the guidance of master printer Dian Darmansjah as the inaugural recipient of Cairns Indigenous Art Fair’s (CIAF) Catapult professional development program, Matilda Nona is currently in the process of creating new works guided by her homemade ink.
Ms Nona said the ink-making process, which involved gathering mangrove bark, orchids, and ochres from her Torres Strait homelands, then cooking, burning and fermenting these materials to produce organic inks, helped her express her culture and stories in a way commercial ink never could.
“It’s more spiritually connected, you can see signs when you’re working with these things, and I feel my ancestors and spirits are all happy,” she said.
“I’m a very outgoing person, and I love going in the bush and just gathering, collecting and creating.”
Ms Nona also said the challenges of getting supplies to a remote community pushed her to explore making her own.
“One of my main reasons I tend towards ochres was time waiting on supplies,” she explained.
“You’ve got deadlines to meet and freight is a killer – you’ve got to wait three or four weeks for your deliveries to arrive.”
The award-winning artist said she had previously spoken with Mr Darmansjah about ink making before the two-week residency, which was what caused her to seek him out and learn more.
“Me and him had discussions about turning ochres into paints, so when I got the residency, they gave me the opportunity to choose who I wanted to do the residency with, and I said I want to work with Dian” Ms Nona said.
“Dian used to be in Brisbane, but now he’s with NorthSite in Cairns, so everything kind of was just falling into place for me, and spiritually, ancestors were happy for me to start this one.”
Ms Nona will have a small exhibition at NorthSite Contemporary Arts in April, with her entire collection set to go on show at CIAF in July.
As an artist who doesn’t go into each piece of work with a plan, she said she was excited to let the natural materials and her ancestors guide the outcome.
She said that just before heading to Cairns for the residency, the land she collected materials from was dry and not overly colourful, but when she went back two weeks later to show her process to CIAF staff, the scenery had changed drastically.
“There was colour; everything was just in front of me and I never saw them colours when I was there two weeks ago, so I knew my ancestors were here, they were showing me more and showing off,” she said.
“Working with the material, I don’t know what’s going to come out of it, I don’t know what I’m creating.
“I just talk to my ancestors and say ‘use me, show me’, and I just get under this spell, so I surprise myself, because I don’t really have a plan or sketchbook.”
