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About the Artist - Mylene Holroyd
Kugu / Thaayorre people
Born 1972
Language: Kugu
"I am a Wik Iiyanh & Thaayorre woman. My ancestors connect me to this place. I speak four Indigenous languages and English. My father is Wik liyanh (fresh water people) from the upper Holroyd River. My mother is Kugu Munhin (salt water people) from north Holroyd River.
Both of my parents were born in the bush. My dad worked in the stockyard before he met my mum. He worked as a drover for no wages, just food. Mum worked in the old hospital cooking for the white staff. My dad lived with his mother (my grandmother). He met my mum after 'nan' had passed away.
I have four sisters and two brothers. When we were young, our parents would take us all on long walk about journeys. We would travel for weeks. They would take us to our traditional country. It was important for us to know it. I remember swimming across rivers holding on to floating logs. The rivers were home to many big crocodiles and it was very dangerous. We were lucky and always managed to get across the river safely. My generation is the last to go walk about in this way. Now the young people jump in a truck or boat and get there in a few hours instead of a few weeks.
I love art and have worked at the Art Centre since 2005. I make art because it is in my heart. I love bright colours because they look good and seem to change when you look at them. Making art reminds me of going bush. Every time I work on my art it is an experiment. It is always changing and surprises me when it is finished."
About Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre's Waii (Jellyfish) Totems
"This story is about all the Waii (jellyfish) we see in our waters and that wash up on our beaches. This story comes from my mother’s country at the mouth of the Holroyd River. We are not allowed to take Tea-Tree bark from any of the trees except for one big, old tree. We are not allowed to cut wood for spears from the big tree. If my father caught someone doing this, they would be in big trouble, and possibly get speared or beaten. We rip the bark off the big tree and use it for many purposes such as making bowls, sleeping mats, plates and starting fires.
When we take bark from our big old tree, we give the tree cooked fish, served on a plate on the ground. This is our way of saying ‘thank-you’. I remember seeing this tree when I was young and had my first child, Christine. If someone takes bark from any other tree in the area, our waters will fill with waii, making it bad for fishing and people will get stung. If bark is removed from the southern side of the trees, waters from the south will become infested with waii. If bark is removed from the northern side of the tree, our northern waters will be inundated with waii.
It is like a curse being put on the water and people in a certain direction. Only someone who does not know this story, usually an outsider, would do this. If we do not thank the big tree for its bark with cooked fish, the same thing will happen. Everything can be made right if someone who belongs to our country takes the bark that was improperly taken and ties it back onto the tree. Then the waii will go away. If this is not done, the waii will stay, and our people will have to the camp up river. We will stay in that new camp for a couple of weeks. When we return to the coast the waii will be gone."
As told by Jeannie Holroyd
Material
Ghost net, aluminium wire, plastic trellis, rope and twine
Dimensions
41 x 17 x 14cm
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