2009 - Yvonne Koolmatrie: Eel Traps
Yvonne Koolmatrie: Eel Traps / 7 August – 6 September 2009
Image: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Eel trap, 2008, woven sedge, 152 x 39 x 8 cm, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia. Photography by Sam Noonan.
Yvonne Koolmatrie has lived all her life in Ngarrindjeri country, which ranges from the Coorong, a wetland wilderness at the mouth of the Murray River upstream to the present-day farming communities of South Australia's lower Murray Riverland.
The subtle scent, form and hue of Koolmatrie's Eel traps, elegantly woven from native grasses, palpably evoke the environment of the Murray River. However, as that great river is threatened, so too are the sedge grasses themselves, and Koolmatrie's way of life.
Image: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Eel Traps, 2009, installation view, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia. Photography by Sam Noonan.
Image: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Eel Traps, 2009, installation view, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia. Photography by Sam Noonan.
Image: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Eel Traps, 2009, installation view, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia. Photography by Sam Noonan.
Image: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Eel Traps, 2009, installation view, Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia. Photography by Sam Noonan.
