Travel around Greater Brisbane, founded upon the homelands of the Turrbal and Jagera people, and you’ll get a sense of how intricately spun the First Nations story is. And of how close-knit and connected the creative community is.
ARTIST DELVENE COCKATOO-COLLINS is walking slowly, eyes to the ground, on the beach on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). She stops to pick up a piece of pockmarked driftwood and tug at a tuft of tawalpin (beach hibiscus), which she uses to make twine and stitch shells onto fabric. Delvene also scrapes a few shards of ochre on a rock to reveal the pink, white and purple pigments as part of her weekly tour of the island.
“How lucky am I? This is such a pretty palette to work with,” says the First Nations artist and designer who lives and works in Goompi (Dunwich) on Quandamooka Country.
Delvene gently places the rocks and a small ball of tawalpin fibres on a rock shelf as if preparing an offering. The artist says she learned aspects of her practice, such as weaving, from
