Yin Yin Yonbarra, meaning song birds, depicts not only the birds, people, plants and other animals from our Wadawurrung Creation Story, it highlights the importance of keeping oral story-telling alive for the future generations. Our stories are not written down, nor in books, they are spoken to children as stories. This is my mum’s Marlene Gilson OAM story, it was written down in full by my brother Barry Gilson and as an artist I have used each bird as inspiration to paint.

I wanted to show how beautiful the colours of Country are, the birds themselves and my love for nature. Alongside revealing deep connections to Country and place, ancestral knowledges, family and each other. On a personal level, painting the birds has brought my children and I so much joy. I love showing them my next painting and discovering all the quirks of the birds as they live, play and squabble in the trees on Country. The Rainbow Lorikeets really do control the tree tops.

As I go on daily walks, I gather local ochres. The white ochre represents spirit and the connection through ceremony when placed on my body, the pink is from my favourite place Black Hill in Ballarat and connects to our women’s story there, the charcoal is from my mum’s fire and is crushed up by me, then used to paint with. The black charcoal smells like a smoking ceremony and forms connections to my mum, Country and the gum trees from which our Creation Story comes from. I often think of that when I work, I love the connections and am very proud to be able to include them in my practice. I gather my favourite bush plants like banksias, wattle, hakea and gum leaves to take back home and paint from. Each painting is embedded with a small portion of 23 karat gold or silver leaf – this represents the goldfields, my ancestral Country and where I live. The silver stands for spirit and shines like the brightest star in the night sky, with the gold overriding the colonial voices. We had no use for gold – we are the gold, Country is the gold.

The birds all hold their own stories, like Jirra Wit, the Willy Wagtail, who is said to bring messages from spirit and loved ones. Others like the Rainbow Lorikeets, the King Parrots and the Rosellas, all take their colours from the first rainbow that Bundjil created, after the first sunrise.

Bundjil was a shapeshifter, a magical Wedge-tailed Eaglehawk, that could turn himself into a man named Karringalabil and back again. He was the headman of the Kulin family groups. While in his eagle form he created the land on which we stand, the people, plants, birds, animals, mountains, forests, waterways, sky, cosmos and under Country. He created the birds first and they became his family, as did Country. Some of them helped him finish his creation.

Bundjil created the first men at a place called Kirritt Barreet in Gordon. The first born was the Brolga or Karween as he was known and the second form he created from bark taken from the Manna gum tree was Wa’ng or now known as Waa the Crow. That is why we call the crows our ancestors. Waa got his name by the sound he makes. He then assisted in breathing life into the people and blowing them across Country. Waa is said to be our ancestor watching over us.

The two black swan sisters, Kunuwarra, are Bundjil’s wives, and he had three sons. One was the evening sunset glow and Binbeal the Rainbow, whose wife was the second bow on the rainbow. The third son was named Turt, the galaxy and all the stars it holds.

The corella, named Koruk Koruk, was Bundjil’s daughter and his brother was named Baliang the bat.

Bundjil became tired and decided to take his family to a place called Lal Lal Falls where he asked the keeper of the whirlwind Bellin Bellin the Currawong to blow them high up into the sky to rest. They became stars in the galaxy and now all watch over us today.

I am grateful for the support from Daine and her staff in allowing me the space to showcase our magical story and support my art practice, thank you for helping me bring our story to life.

Nyatne, Deanne Gilson

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 prominently 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, exploring the presence of the intangible as a spiritual connection 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. Gilson states 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 and extending upon the old and 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.