Riley Gibson, Jaleighra Deeral, Melanie Gibson and Esma (Fay) Bowen represent Hope Vale at the opening night of Brisbane’s new First Nations art exhibition, The Shape of Time. Photo: Chisa Hasegawa.
Three Cape York and Torres Strait art centres are being showcased at Brisbane’s newest First Nations contemporary art exhibition.
The Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre, Pormpuraaw Art and Culture Centre and Moa Arts were three of five Far North Queensland art centres that showcased the beauty and diversity of Indigenous art at artisan’s The Shape of Time, which opened on 24 April.
Memories from childhood and a passion found in adulthood came together for Hope Vale Elder and artist Esma (Fay) Bowen, whose work was part of the ceiling-to-floor textile display by the eastern Cape York community.
Ms Bowen’s two pieces, the Buthaya (Lady Apple) and Cabbage Palm, were striking in the line-up, surprising anyone who found out she had been an artist for less than a decade.
“I was a worker in the art centre, a yardsman, and then she (Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre manager Melanie Gibson) said, ‘if it’s raining and you’ve got nothing to do, do some art’,” she explained.
The artist said the Buthaya piece was one of her first works, inspired by memories of going to the beach around Christmas time.
“When we [used to] go to the beach, that’s our only fruit, because we don’t come back to the community for a while,” she said.
Ms Bowen said she painted 10 Buthaya pieces in an array of colours and, to her surprise, Ms Gibson wanted to take them to the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, where eight of them were sold.
She said her art journey has been filled with joyous and proud moments, including the exhibition opening, but the best was seeing her granddaughter wearing her Cabbage Palm design at the Hope Vale and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) fashion show earlier this month.
The show, which was held in a community hall donated for the night by the Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council, showcased Elders’ artworks on garments designed by QUT fashion students, modelled by community youth.
The Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre thanked the artisan team and former chief executive officer Claire Sourgnes, who arranged for the Hope Vale collective’s first exhibition outside of Cairns in 2019, which established the now six-year partnership with the Brisbane gallery.
One of Ms Bowen’s first works depicting the Buthaya (Lady Apple) from her childhood. Photo: Chisa Hasegawa.
