Lindsay HARRIS Born Citizenship Country
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: August 14, 1947 : Aboriginal Australian (Noongar) : Lesmurdie WA
I am a Noongar artist and my interest has always been finding ways of representing my lands. I see through my eyes which invoke memories of Kwolyin in the central wheat belt of Western Australia and the surrounding districts where I once lived. As a Noongar I have and I share in a special relationship to the country of my forebears. Overarching this relationship is the respect for my country and my involvement in its care and representation. The focus of my art is the inscribed landscapes of Kwolyin and surrounding areas. When I am there, I can make out the barest foundations of its town-site. Impermanence is the word that best describes what I am seeing. Impermanence is one of the key themes of my artistic orientations. Change is always occurring, nothing stays the same. Kwolyin town is now a ghost town with only a church remaining, travelling through Kwolyin, a person would only see this church and the road going through the town-site and would think that was all there is. But there are memories. These memories inspire my artwork. Rocks, trees and sites are signifiers of my past. Unlike the traveller or stranger in this space, I see the landscape as it was and this is the very same space I come to represent in the present. Granite rocks, lakes, trees and sites are signifiers of my past. The granite rock formations depicted in these paintings elicit joyful memories of a childhood spent playing on these outcrops. The siding train tracks meandering across my work were the lifeblood of the Kwolyin community but nowadays are but a distant memory of the past. Kwolyin is my heart space - my home. I use these visual cues in my art. Such as observing how the kangaroo tracks and markings leads one to an understanding in the land. My heart space forces one to visualise stories and the reading of country and the connections to the old stories in this modern day. Stories and myths are the memories of What happened many years ago where people called out to each other. This act of calling out to another is one when in the company of family there is a ritual of telling the land ‘I am here’. I have returned: The Kwolyin name ‘Kooting’ relates to the practice of calling from atop of Kwolyin Hill and koo-waangking, saying ‘I am home. I have returned.’ This is my Noongar boodja (land); the land of my people. This is where I feel most comfortable and the substance of inspiration for my art. My work gives people insights into my country, and the connections to the old stories in this modern day. The outcome is really about telling the stories of my home. When I painted - Tracks to Kockerbin #1- I was telling the story about how some of my people came to be with a child. When they went there, they would ask the Kockiij, (the little spirit man) who resided in a cave, that they wanted a child. He would reply to them that the next time he saw them the woman will be boodjari (pregnant). My art brings a sense of intimacy and connection to my boodja (my land). Through my paintings I invite people to go on a journey back to my land and see and understand it as I see it and perhaps how my ancestors once saw it.