​2019 - 2022

​Bukmak scroll

                                                                    Mussel hunting with Rosemary. Galiwin'ku/Elcho Island. 2019. Photograph courtesy of Omair Raza.

                                      Mussel hunting with Rosemary. Watercolour, oil, found material, stamps, khadi silk, embroidered panels on paper. Detail. 1000cmx20cm (entire). 2019-2022.                                                                                                                              

Bukmak means "altogether", or "in the company of" in Yolgnu Matha, the language spoken by Yolgnu people of Gali'winku - Elcho Island.
I lived in Gali'winku for six months and Bukmak scroll chronicles my experiences there. In Gali'winku I was adopted by Rosemary Gunjarranbuy Gurrawurra Galikali. Rosemary named me Dhorna - the sacred digging stick that belonged to the two spirit women who descended from the Pleides, and created the features of Galiwin'ku as they moved and stopped to rest. ​