Yinjaa-Barni Art

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Letting Go

This painting represents the warmth and love I have for a lady I was proud to call my mother. After losing her, I as an artist felt myself being motivated to do a series of paintings to deal with my grief and the void she has left in my heart and life itself. The earlier pieces in the series used dark colours to represent the devastation and overwhelming grief of losing my mum (Aunty). I realised this painting is me slowly moving through the grief and beginning to find light again. This is my journey as an artist, using my painting to navigate the process that we all go through in life called grief. After working on this piece I realised that the colours I have used in the background represent the warmth and love my mum had for her family and those around her. The copper represents my Mum’s love and respect for her Country and many trips she enjoyed travelling with loved ones out bush.

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Pilbara Wildflower’s & Sturt Peas

Summer time season brings beauty to the Pilbara as nature takes it course. Our country, the Pilbara, has its own garden through the spinifex hills and also along the river beds.

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Pilbara Wildflowers

These are the Pilbara wildflowers that grow on the ground. They have a beautiful colours blending into the Country during flower season.

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Deep Reach Millstream

This part of the river is very sacred to the Yinjibarndi Tribe where some of our people were taken

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Family Connections (Milly)

These are the Pilbara wildflower’s that grow on the ground. Their seeds spread in the Country ready for the next year.

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Pilbara Wildflowers and Seeds (Justina)

These are the Pilbara wildflower’s that grow on the ground. Their seeds spread in the Country ready for the next year.

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Emu Seeds

In this painting I have depicted the pods of a shrub which is common in the Pilbara area. It is a smallish bush which comes into seed in September, when the Emu is visible in the Milky Way. This is the time the emu chicks hatch and it is one of their main sources of food. When the pod opens the parent emus feed the little black seeds to their chicks. The seed pod, which is about the size and the shape of a cockroach, turns from orange to yellow, so when all the bushes are in pod at different stages, there is a brilliant display of orange and yellow colours throughout the country. The official name of this annual shrub is Senna notabilis, but, due to the oblong, flat shape and the glossy golden brown colour of its pods, it is known commonly as Cockroach Bush. It has a little round fruit, a berry, that starts of green and turns red when it is ripe, but it’s poisonous. The shrub starts off as a light green colour and then, as it matures, it gets darker. The flowers are a yellowy orange and they, too, get darker with a bit of black as they are fading away.

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Millstream Water lily

Millstream Lily pond is at the Millstream Homestead.The early settlers brought the water lilies with them and created a beautiful oasis with a large lily pond. This place is a significant site for the Yinjibarndi people and one they like to visit frequently.

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Seeds and Waterways (Dawn)

I am inspired by the colours in the rocks, the seeds on the ground, and the way water moves through the land. When I paint, I think about the flow of a waterway. Water is always moving, and I follow that movement in my lines and shapes. The forms in my work come from that flow, and my colours come from what I see in Country. I use strong, vivid colours because that is how I see Country in my mind and how i feel when i paint. There is a lot of new life when you find water on Country. It is where you find the beautiful colours and the flowers.  When i paint I feel connected to culture, the old people and memories. 

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Waterfalls

This artwork represents the waterfalls that flow over the Pilbara rocks after lots of rain on country.