Yvonne Koolmatrie: Ngarrindjeri Woman
At the heart of Yvonne Koolmatrie’s work is her homeland: Ngarrindjeri country. Stretching from the lower Murray River to its mouth at the Coorong lagoon is the land of the artist’s mother and her ancestors.
Koolmatrie has lived all of her life in Ngarrindjeri country. She has traversed its landscape since childhood – by car, on horseback and on foot. Through seasonal work, hard times and personal tragedy, her life’s journey has seen her revive a nearextinct Ngarrindjeri artform, and become a master of her craft. Weaving sculptural forms with native grasses, Koolmatrie’s practice entwines ancestral stories with her
