Lorraine Connelly-Northey

Connelly-Northey creates her sculptures from discarded materials she finds in the bush. Describe the materials used in Narrbong-galang (many bags) and how they would feel to touch. What do you think these materials were originally used for? Discuss the benefits of making art from used or recycled materials.

Go through the recycling at school or at home and carefully examine each item. Think about what these objects were originally used for. Notice their shapes, texture and materials. Experiment by turning these discarded materials into something new. Use them to create a new version of an everyday object. How does your construction give these materials new meaning, and transform a familiar object into something different?

Consider Narrbong-galang (many bags) in terms of form, shape, texture and line. How do you respond to the scale of the work?  

Connelly-Northey uses machine-made materials discarded from pastoralism and rural industry. What histories do they evoke? Discuss how the recontextualising of these materials into Aboriginal forms reveals enduring cultural knowledge and presence.  

Study the way the artist has shaped the metal in these works. Discuss the physical challenges of working with these materials. How might this process itself suggest ideas of strength and resilience? 

These forms reference narrbong-galang – fibre bags that are used for collecting food sources such as potatoes (yam daisies) and small meat (frogs, turtles and snakes). Find the coolamon (vessel) and digging stick included in the work and consider how their use relates to the narrbong. Create an artwork that communicates ideas of gathering and knowledge of place.

Research the different weaving practices across Australia. Identify stylistic features and methods from areas including Milingimbi, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and the Coorong. Look at the work of artists such as Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurru, Yvonne Koolmatrie and Kunmanara (Niningka) Lewis.