Debbie Wood’s new weaving exhibition is a collaboration with local potters. Photo: Chris Roe.
Gomeroi weaver Debbie Wood says her new exhibition Mara Mawang – Hands Together is a celebration of artists working together.
“I hope people just take away a sense of the beauty of something that’s made by hand,” she smiles.
Mara Mawang is a combination of the Gomeroi word for “hands” and Wiradjuri for “together”, representing Debbie’s own life journey from Moree to Wagga Wagga and her collaboration with three local potters.
“It’s about togetherness and showing what can be made when people get involved and come on board.”
She says the exhibition combines woven elements with pottery pieces has been 12 months in the making.
“I lost my dad earlier in the year and then my mum had health issues, so I just find it healing,” she says.
“It’s very therapeutic really, something you can do that takes your mind away from everything else.”
Debbie moved to Wagga to be nearer her grandkids 10 years ago and, aside from the cold, says she loves living on Wiradjuri country.
It was here that she learned traditional weaving through a TAFE course and time with local Aunties.
“I started with Aunty Kath Withers and Aunty Pat Simpson and I’ve met lots of weavers along the way like Aunty Gail Manderson,” she says.
“I’ve been involved with another group of Aunties here with Grasslands projects and I’ve had a lot of guidance through these last few years with master basket weaver Harriet Goodall.”
But Debbie’s style is her own; a fusion of traditional technique, natural fibres and feathers, bold colours and swirling three-dimensional shapes.
“I just sit and think and sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea of how I’m going to twist it and turn it and make it different,” she explains.
“Raffia is one of my main bases and I use quandong seeds, quills, feathers and anything found on the road.
“I call it my roadkill,” she chuckles. “Most of my friends or people that I know now, if they find a dead bird, they’re plucking it and sending it to me.”
Far from being morbid, Debbie says there’s a symmetry to it and she celebrates the animal’s life.
“I always say (to the animal) ‘my friend, I will turn you into something beautiful’. So that’s a little prayer that I say and they usually do turn into something beautiful and they relive.”
Not all the “recycled” elements in Debbie’s work are organic. In fact, it was over a glass of champagne and a few chips and dips that she came up with the idea for the current exhibition.
“I said to my daughter, ‘you know, there’s something we could do with these’ (dip bowls). So two of the pieces out there are actually made from those ceramic dip bowls,” she explains.
“So I engaged with three potters in town and invited them to come on board.”
Debbie’s work is now on display at the Little Yellow House ahead of the official opening on Friday evening.
She says her long association with the gallery run by local artist Maggie Deall has been a joy.
“It’s wonderful to be part of the Little Yellow House,” she says.
“I’ve evolved in this space, it’s just a beautiful space to be in and the diversity that comes from different artists is amazing here.
“That’s all thanks to Maggie.”
Debbie Wood’s exhibition Mara Mawang – Hands Together opens on Friday (22 July) at 6 pm at the Little Yellow House on Tompson Street.
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