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Hunting Wanti With Car

How did you get to this style of painting?

“Do you mean, what have I done with my life? (chuckles to herself) To me these paintings are a sense of energy. So if I see someone and they’re happy, I paint a happy vibe. Cos their spirit is happy. And sometimes it’s hard because on the outside they’re real happy but on the inside they’re real sad. Sometimes you do stuff (like a painting) and it adds up later on. But I still don’t know what it means and don’t know where my style comes from because it’s both the path I walk on and the cracks in the dirt. It’s like looking at a landscape but I haven’t been there yet. Maybe I’ll get there one day. I believe things happen for a reason.”

– Sylvia Wilson

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Sylvia Wilson

Biography:

"I’m Sylvia Wilson, an emerging curator at Martumili Art Gallery. The first exhibition I curated was in 2021 with fellow artists Robina Willams and Corban Williams. Paper Wangka (Paper Story in Martu) exhibition unearthed paper artwork treasures from Martumili collection as a professional development project for us three emerging curators. Since then I have lead the gallery team to curate and install a number of exhibitions including Ngapikaja (the loose translation thingamibobs) and Mikka (Bush foods). I also curated a show for Yaama ganu Gallery in NSW for this September 2023. I love working with spaces and amazing artwork. I love going through the process of selection and coming up with themes that tie the pieces together. I get so excited to see works the works we send to different galleries, stretched and hung on the walls in places like Darwin, Perth and Sydney.

I also knew I was different from a young age. I remember saying it all the time, not understanding why until now, in my late 30s. Mum Pat was a good mother — strict but loving. She wanted the best for me. We grew up in a big family. I didn’t know where I came from until I was older.

My Martu birth mother, Susan, was young. She also came from a big family and had a very cultural upbringing. We Martu people were the last to be discovered in Australia. For me, I say out loud: I have a Black mum and a white mum, living in two different worlds. I guess that’s being a true Australian."

- Sylvia Wilson

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