In Karrap Karrap Beenyak — Flower Baskets of Knowledge, Deanne Gilson depicts dilly bags and baskets drawn from the South Eastern collection of artefacts held within the Melbourne Museum, and gifts from family and friends. They reclaim cultural knowledge, mixing tradition with the lived experiences of her ancestors and re-enriching her life with culture, Country and connection, through the creation of new art. The works highlight the use of Indigenous plants for healing and bush foods, and the Wadawurrung Creation Story and connection to Dja (Country).
Dr Deanne Gilson is a proud Wadawurrung woman and an award-winning visual artist living and creating from her ancestral home of Ballarat in Victoria. Her multidisciplinary art practice interrogates the colonial disruption of her family and explores ways in which contemporary art can create a platform towards healing, acceptance and reclaiming cultural identity, often drawing upon traditional knowledges of her ancestors.
The Victorian bush where Gilson grew up features predominantly in all of
her paintings, alongside many Indigenous plants, trees and birds from
her Creation Story. Gilson draws upon layers of tangible and intangible
knowledge, she talks about the presence of the intangible as spiritual
connections to Country and her ancestors, while the tangible knowledge
reflects artefacts and other objects of daily Wadawurrung life. Her
works portray a rich cultural history that continues to thrive and grow
today despite the restrictions placed on her family by settlement.
Gilson’s
practice defines Aboriginal women’s business past and present through
contemporary art. Traditional marks alongside contemporary marks, link
her to the practices of Indigenous mark-making, especially that on her
body when in ceremony. Stating that “all of my artworks are an extension
of my women’s business and draw on ochre sourced from Wadawurrung Dja
(Country)”. The white is used in traditional ceremonies, while the
charcoal is a direct link to Gilson’s matriarchal line of her mother’s
business. Gilson’s mother, Marlene Gilson, also an artist, gathers
charcoal from her daily fire, passing this onto her daughter, extending
upon the old and the new ways of sharing knowledge and connection to
Country.
Gilson holds a PhD from Deakin University. Her work is
held in numerous public and private collections including the National
Gallery of Victoria, the Koorie Heritage Trust, the National Wool
Museum, Deakin University, Bundoora Homestead, Monash University,
Federation University, Australian Catholic University, University of
Melbourne, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Shepparton Art Museum, the National
Trust, Trinity College, and Ballarat Grammar.