As an artist, Shirley holds close ties to her traditional bush country, and favours using natural and found materials including ochre from Indilanji and Spinifex resin from Camooweal to create objects such as guutu (vessels) and baskets. Shirley’s main inspiration in her artistic practice is Spinifex, a native grass that grows in abundance throughout remote Australia.

For Shirley, Spinifex signifies the strength and resilience of her people, as well as reflecting her country. In recent times she has been faced with the challenge of having to feed Spinifex to her cattle in order for them to survive due to drought, and these conditions have ‘grounded’ Shirley in her artistic practice, as she states:

“Spinifex inspires me to create sculptural works that reflect strength, fragility and survival in my environment. I am now grounded. The Spinifex was for my art – now it is to feed my cattle.”

In 2012, Shirley Macnamara had her work exhibited at the Gallery of Modern Art/Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane as part of prestigious 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

-Alcaston Gallery

Image: © Shirley Macnamara