I think of my rainforest paintings as glimpses into a parallel universe where the modern Mamu Aboriginal woman lives freely on her traditional lands in the deep gorge/rainforest, connected to my country and all creatures on it. They are whimsical in their colours and magical forests which I try to encapsulate by my use of silver leaf and paint in my current work.
I am descended from a line of strong Warribarra women. The stories I read in books of colonisation and survival and the ones I hear from my grandmother and older ones in our tribe have me wondering how my female ancestors survived emotionally, how they lived with themselves after losing babies, children, partners and family members. I think of them when I paint my rainforest women. I think of their inner strength and their resilience. In my work, I try to capture their past and their hopes.