Janine McAullay Bott still remembers attending a 1980s weaving class in Hawaii with much hesitation and disinterest. But over 30 years later, she canât think of anything she loves more than the intricate craft that has landed her a spot at Sydneyâs 2019 Sculpture by the Sea.
The 68-year-old Indigenous woman from Western Australia has spent the past year weaving a bush sculpture of a vintage truck that will exhibit at Bondiâs world-famous event starting on Thursday.
âItâs an enormous opportunity to display your work,â she told HuffPost Australia. âItâs a huge stage to showcase.â
But beyond the spectacle of sharing her intricate art with the public is a deeper meaning behind her handiwork that pays tribute to her motherâs Aboriginal heritage.
âWeaving is important to me because I struggled for years not knowing my worth,â she said. âI inherited the Noongar background [people of the South West of Western Australia] from my mother Rena,â she continued, adding her Irish father died when she was a baby.
âWeaving gives me my place, itâs like a vehicle to show respect to my motherâs people. Itâs uncomplicated â people see itâs uncomplicated for them and they naturally reach out and pull the people in and most importantly, to easily associate it to the land because itâs made from the bush. Thereâs no wire holding my work together.â
Her vintage bush truck sculpture took a year to create from palm fronds, bamboo, grapevine and palm branch. Described as âa ghost of itselfâ, the installation was inspired by âold trucks discarded in the bushâ that Bott had often noticed.
âItâs a feeling of isolation, loneliness and loss and people look at it and may remember,â she said. âIt brings back memories of old days and when things were made strong and to last.â
The artist said sheâs always advised people: âDonât just look at the weave, look into the weaveâ.
âSee the layers and if itâs a figure, thereâs strengths and weaknesses in some places, like the truck is strong in some places and more fragile in others and thatâs like the Indigenous people. They are strong in some ways and weak in others.â
Bottâs creation will be displayed at Bondiâs Sculpture by the Sea alongside over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world.
Having attracted approximately 450,000 visitors in recent years, the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk exhibition is now in its 23rd year and will take place over three weeks.
The Aqualand Sculpture Award of $70,000 will be awarded to an exhibiting artist whose sculpture will be gifted for permanent public enjoyment in Sydney.
Sculpture by the Sea runs from Thursday October 24 to Sunday November 10.
Here are more sculptures featuring this year.