Stone Canoe

‘Stone Canoe’ is a painting which pays homage to the mouth of the Clarence River and the Dreamtime Stories which have been passed down through generations and generations of the Yaegl people. Many of these stories occurred within the banks of Biirrinba (Clarence River). 

The painting depicts an aerial view of the river mouth predominantly featuring the coastline around Yamba. In the river mouth is a canoe which represents part of the journey on which the Stone Canoe travelled before it reached its final resting place.

The small marks and linear aspects refers to my bloodlines to this place, yet it is also a mark of respect for all the wrongdoings of the past, the unspoken and or undocumented history which occurred within the very banks of the Clarence River.

I paint what I am most familiar with, my river, my Biirrinba. I see the river as a life-giving vein that pumps through our body enabling us to be.

When our stories are being heard and the river is healthy and flowing, so are its people.