Olir Kwith Draw
Woman with many Children
New works by Wei’ Num artists Marsha Hall,
Daphne de Jersey & Margaret Mara
3RD - 28TH MARCH 2015
Wei’ Num Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander
Arts & Crafts Corporation
OUR VISION
To facilitate and provide resources that foster a fine
arts and craft program throughout the Western and
Northern Cape that has a focus on product development,
marketing and promotion, arts education and training,
and arts business.
Ngongg (Mangrove Fern)
Marsha Hall
Shell Mound
Marsha Hall
Au Bau 1
Daphne de Jersey
Au Bau 2
Daphne de Jersey
Boggy Road
Daphne de Jersey
Caught by the Net
Margaret Mara
2015, 72cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 56cm x 46cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 52cm x 52cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 72cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 52cm x 52cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 84cm x 66cm,
Acrylic on Linen
Sole Entrapment
Daphne de Jersey
Staying Connected
Margaret Mara
Day Dream
Daphne de Jersey
Ethereal Reflections 1
Daphne de Jersey
Ethereal Reflections 2
Daphne de Jersey
Hayi (yams) Digging for Yams
Marsha Hall
2015, 91m x 91cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 62cm x 62cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 52cm x 52cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 62cm x 62cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 84cm x 84cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 72cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
Storm Tide
Daphne de Jersey
Storm Tide
Daphne de Jersey
Lady Apple
Daphne de Jersey
Letting your Light Shine
Margaret Mara
Luwang Langhipwa
(small girl of Luwang)
Marsha Hall
Women Of Many
Daphne de Jersey
2015, 62cm x 62cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 72cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 52cm x 52cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 52cm x 52cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 72cm x 92cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 62cm x 62cm,
Acrylic on Linen
Tidal Currents
Daphne de Jersey
Too Much Noise
Margaret Mara
Mapoon Spiritual Connection
Margaret Mara
Mapoon Wet Season Time
Margaret Mara
Mokwie (country man)
Marsha Hall
Networking
Margaret Mara
2015, 99cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 72cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 92cm x 92cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 56cm x 56cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 92cm x 72cm,
Acrylic on Linen
2015, 52cm x 52cm,
Acrylic on Linen
OUR HISTORY
In 2007 a Weipa public meeting addressed the viability
and necessity of an artist run organisation to support
and promote Indigenous art in the Western and Northern
Cape York.
A facility in Weipa was identified to run arts-based
courses for artists, including developing creative and
business skills. It became known as the Art Centre.
The Art Hub concept was developed as a collaborative
initiative of community and government representatives.
This is what is now known as Wei’ Num.
THE ART CENTRE
Wei’ Num grew from an initiative that was funded
by DEEDI in partnership with Western Cape College
and TNQI TAFE. Wei’ Num’s vision is to empower
indigenous artists to take ownership of their individual
arts businesses and to create economic certainty for
themselves and their families.
Wei’ Num delivers arts and craft based business and
professional development opportunities for artists
(and also communities) living in Weipa, Napranum and
Mapoon. In time, it is aimed to extend the services of the
Corporation throughout the Western and Northern Cape
York to the communities of Coen, Aurukun, Pormpuraaw
and Kowanyama, and to the communities of the
Northern Peninsula Area: Seisia, New Mapoon, Bamaga,
Umagico and Injinoo.
Wei’ Num also supports the growth and recognition of
‘the arts’ as an important industry, which in Indigenous
communities has the capacity to provide education and
training opportunities in arts practice and business,
economic growth, cultural maintenance and retention,
employment, and community engagement and pride.
The Artists
Daphne De Jersey
Marsha Hall
Margaret Mara
Mother of six, Daphne has always
been an artistic individual, leaning
more towards the tactile ceramics
field as a student in secondary
school and coming to find her
painting ability in 2004.
Marsha Hall, a Thanakwithi woman,
was always artistic and creative
but it was never something a
young woman from Napranum
ever thought she could rely on
as a profession.
Partaking in the early Western Cape
Artists program in Mapoon, Daphne had
instant success with her first painting
selling to a wealthy business owner.
Inspiration comes from many places
for Daphne including her own life
experiences and events, coupled with
her knowledge of bush food which was
passed down to her from her mother,
and is a signature representation in
her works. Bush foods and their
seasonal occurrence have great
significance in traditional culture.
Through countless years of observation
and generation after generation of
knowledge transfer, the importance
of bush food is immeasurable.
Much has changed since then and
she has explored new techniques and
mediums to produce some creative
pieces of art. Inspired by the five clan
groups of the Weipa region, Marsha’s
work adopts an abstract angle.
As a mother of eight and
grandmother to four, Margaret
Mara’s (nee de Jersey) painting
ability is obviously coupled with
a talent for time management.
Working around a busy schedule,
Margaret produces a steady flow of
paintings for scheduled shows.
Her latest work utilizes a new
contemporary colour scheme, much
different to her previous traditional
natural ochre hues. In the past, animals
from the Western Cape were the main
sources of iconography in Marsha’s
work, where they were encapsulated in
all their essence by her sharp eye and
attention to detail. Marsha’s designs
have been commissioned for metal
wear, educational learning materials
and costumes for dance ensembles.
In 2005, after becoming frustrated and
unsatisfied with painting realistically,
Margaret found comfort with a more
contemporary and abstract style.
Drawing inspiration from the immediate
events in her life, Margaret reflects on
many other areas for inspiration; the
environment, family stories, living in the
Cape, emotions and anything else that
has direct effect on her as an individual.
Belonging to an extremely creative
family, Margaret’s desire to establish
her artistic career as a full time
profession seems a natural progression.
Olir Kwith Draw 3RD - 28TH MARCH 2015
KickArts Contemporary ARTS 96 Abbott Street, Cairns QLD
Open MonDAY – SatURDAY 10am to 5pm Free Entry
for more info, view the website: weinumarts.com.au
This project is supported by the
Queensland Government’s Indigenous
Art Centre Funding Program
through Arts Queensland, part of the
Department of Science, Information
Technology, Innovation and the Arts.
Wei’ Num Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Arts & Crafts Corporation PO Box 134, Weipa Qld 4874 e. [email protected]