Carpet Snake Country

Nickolla Clark, a local Arakwal Bundjalung artist living and working in the Byron Shire, draws her inspiration from her grandmother’s country around Tallow Creek. This is Gabul Jagun – Carpet Snake Country – and its stories have inspired Clark’s exhibition of paintings at the Lone Goat Gallery opening this Friday June 24.

‘Arakwal Jagun stretches from the Rainforest to the sea including the rivers, sacred sites, our creator and home Ironbark at Tallow Creek.’, Clark says, proud of the fact that she is the very first Arakwal artist to hold a solo show on Arakwal land.

One painting is titled, ‘Goorunbaa Midden – Pass Midden’, and depicts the layers of shells discarded by ancestors over generations at The Pass in Byron Bay.  Another is is called, ‘Gabanbaa Jagun – Rainforest Country‘, graphically representing the lush landscapes in the areas of original forest that reach right down to the coast. The all encompassing ocean around Australia’s easternmost point is captured in ‘Burruugaa – Sea’ , and Clark also pays homage to the sacred ti-tree lakes behind the sand dunes in ‘Dubay baa – Womens Place‘.

Nickolla and her sister Kaitlyn designed the sensuous mural at the Byron Bay Bus Interchange which features indigenous symbols of food from country like pippis, and in her work ‘Yugari  – Tallows Pippis‘, Nickolla revisits these motifs in a lovingly refined manner.

Nelly interviews Nickolla on Roadtrip, Tuesday June 21.
Scroll across to the 4.20 mark here.

The exhibition ‘Gabul Jagun – Carpet Snake Country’ runs at The Lone Goat Gallery, 28 Lawson Street Byron Bay from Friday June 25 – July 30 with an artist talk on 2pm Saturday 2 July 2022 facilitated by Arakwal leader Aunty Delta Kay. RSVP for the talk via [email protected]