GALLERY TWO | YOOKAPA
IT BURNS FOR US
SAT 26 AUG 4.00PM - FRI 23 SEP 5.00PM
OPENING EVENT SAT 26 AUG, 4.00-6.00PM
FREE TO ATTEND
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Monday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Tuesday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Wednesday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Thursday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Saturday closed
Sunday closed
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Platform Arts is wheelchair-accessible via our Gheringhap St entrance. Unlocked, accessible bathrooms are available on both ground and first floors.
For accessibility enquiries, please directly contact us at hello@platformarts.org.au
Please note, Platform Arts is a dry venue.
Here YOOKAPA is ours. On Wadawurrung Country, at Platform Arts, it is our place created by mob for mob.
YOOKAPA is to give and receive. As action, as a method of practice and as purpose it is to build relationships through interconnectedness, collaboration, exchange and reciprocity. It reiterates what it means to be part of the Blak community, and honours the way that Blackfullas not only relate to one another, but also to Country, to kin and to story.
This exhibition is our living and breathing flame. Rising and falling as the wind changes. A place to develop, explore and experiment with creative and cultural practice, a space to have autonomy and agency in how we tell our stories. Within this collective glow, each artist holds their own fire. It asks what fuels their flame and how do they carry their firepower?
YOOKAPA is a fire we gather around together and tend to as a community. Burning slowly, opening and creating space for new growth to emerge. It burns for us.
YOOKAPA - it burns for us presents works curated and created by First Nations Artists placed on Wadawurrung Country. The curation is led by proud Gunditjmara Keerray Woorroong woman Tarryn Love alongside proud Noongar, Ngapuhi and Ngati Tuwharetoa woman Kiri Tawhai. Exhibiting artists include Jessi Rebel, Savanah Jenkins, Indie Bell, Bri Pengarte Apma Hayes, Bindy Wicks, Gerard Pol, Idris McChesney, Kelsey Love, Lowell Hunter, Kiri Tawhai and Tarryn Love.
The YOOKAPA program is based at Platform Arts on Wadawurrung Country and is established to respond to the critical need for more accessible and culturally safe spaces in the community to ensure First Nations futurity in the arts.
Artists:
Jessi Rebel, Savanah Jenkins, Indie Bell, Bri Pengarte Apma Hayes, Bindy Wicks, Gerard Pol, Idris McChesney, Kelsey Love, Lowell Hunter, Kiri Tawhai (co-curator ), Tarryn Love (co-curator).
For sales and enquiries, please contact curator@platformarts.org.au.
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Bri Pengarte Apma Hayes
@ntulye.art
“My name is Bri Pengarte Apma Hayes I am a young Arrernte emerging artist. I have been born and raised on Waddawurrung country. I created Ntulye Art about 4-5 years ago. The name I use for my art is very special and holds a lot of meaning for myself and family. Ntulye Art honors my great grandmother Undeyla (Minnie) Apma. Ntulye meaning shadow in Arrernte language which can be spelt in a variation of ways. I have learnt to paint and tell stories through my art by watching my Dad paint while I was younger and have now started my own career and journey of being an Aboriginal artist. I use lots of blues and oranges, sticking to earthy tones to represent the land and waterways connected to my people. I love being able to share my creative thinking, stories and culture through art and helping others understand the deep connection and importance of Aboriginal art. I think it is a great way of getting those around me to really think about the rich culture we have here in Australia and sometimes the challenging issues we face that can be portrayed through art.”
Indie Bell
@777_artti
“I am an emerging Yuin, Butchella, and Gunditjmara artist residing on Wadawurrung Country. My creativity is expressed through digital drawings and tattoo designs. I've collaborated on exhibition design projects ranging from developing ideas and concepts to bringing art to life through installations, posters, and murals. I intend to bring my digital works to life by experimenting with different creative mediums such as textiles, painting, and photography. I am currently working on a portfolio of works with the ambition of pursuing a career in tattoo artistry while also creating commissions for clients.”
Jessi Rebel
@jessirebel_art
“Yuwin ngadhi (my name is) Jessi Rebel. I am a proud Wiradjuri woman living on Wadawurrung Country. I grew up on the Mid North Coast of NSW on Biripi Country, and moved down to the Surf Coast of Victoria in early 2016. I am a passionate surfer and youth and disability support worker, and I am currently studying a Bachelor of Arts Therapy, learning about how the arts are a powerful tool for healing and connecting people. The combination of all these things, alongside my culture is what inspires and drives my creative journey, seeking to create artworks that explore the narratives of being to Country, to ourselves and to others. My artistic journey is strongly inspired by my Aunty, Lisa Evans, an established First Nations artist. I grew up watching her paint and learning from her, and she shares culture and knowledge with me whenever I get the chance to be with her. I create works with flow and energy, and love using lines throughout my artworks to explore the connection between things. I draw inspiration from my love of surfing and being deeply connected to Sea Country through this love, as well as understanding the importance of taking care of it and caring for Country also. I am currently expanding my artistic repertoire into mural work, and this is something I want to continue to learn and explore. Being apart of the YOOKAPA Program has been so amazing, connecting with more mob and being inspired to create and learn more.
Mandaang guwu (thank you).”
Kiri Tawhai
@kiritawhaiart
“I am a proud Noongar, Ngapuhi and NgatiTuwharetoa woman who grew up on Jaburara Country amongst the red dirt and the spinifex and the beautiful islands of the Dampier Archipelago. A mother of three, an Aunty, a sister, a daughter, a cousin and a niece. I have had a lifelong love of art in all forms and graduated Deakin University with a Bachelor Degree in Visual Arts in 2018. I am an Artist, Curator, Collaborator and Mentor, who has had collaborative artwork exhibited in Tokyo, curated multiple exhibitions and held a solo show in Geelong. I am a multimedia artist and storyteller with a passion for learning and sharing Knowledge and respecting old ways of knowing and doing within a contemporary world.”
Savanah Jenkins
@savsart00
“I am a proud Taungurung, Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba young artist living on Wadawurrung Country. I have a passion for art and in particular, acrylic painting. My work is heavily influenced by abstract artists both modern and classical. In my own works I am focused on incorporating stories into the pieces and forming emotion through artistic techniques. I aspire to become an established artist in my own right and continue to refine my artistic skills.”
Tarryn Love
@koorroyarr
“I am a proud Gunditjmara Keerray Woorroong woman, born and raised on Wadawurrung Country. I am a koorroyarr, teenyeen ngapang, tyeentyeeyt ngapangyarr and wanoong ngeerrang - granddaughter, youngest daughter, youngest sister and proud Aunty. I am an emerging artist, curator, and producer, and whose practice exists in the space of creative cultural expression. I create under the collective of Koorroyarr which means ‘grandaughter’ in my Mother Tongue, honouring my positionality as a Gunditjmara woman. Koorroyarr represents that the sustainability of cultural practice is in the sharing of knowledge and pays respect to my family and Ancestors, past and living. My work represents the distinctiveness of Gunditjmara ways of Knowing, Being and Doing that is not one way but constantly happening and changing. Overall, I aim to explore my identity in the here and now while centering language and carrying on the work of remembering, reclamation, regeneration, and revitalisation.”
Kelsey Love
@kloveer
“I am a proud Gunditjmara Keerray Wooroong multidisciplinary visual artist, whose art practice includes weaving, drawing, painting and wood burning designs. I use visual art as a way to channel my cultural connection and discover more about my connections to land and family, and to honour those who have paved the way before me. I work with a variety of mediums and textiles to fuse traditional weaving styles with modern fibres to create contemporary pieces of work. I also have a passion for learning my traditional language, and endeavour to do this through the naming of my pieces. “
Lowell Hunter
@salty_one_here
“My name is Lowell Hunter AKA Salty One and I am a saltwater man. I create sand art and use drone photography to capture the scale of my works within breathtaking landscapes. It all started as a way to get out on the beach and connect with culture, Country and sea.
I am a Nyul Nyul man from the Kimberleys in Western Australia. I grew up on Gunditjmara Country in Warrnambool and now live on Waddawurrung Country, Geelong. Each place has kept me connected to the ocean.
I create sand artwork using just my feet. I carve stories into the sand using the same foot movements I was taught through dance, movements my people have practised for countless generations.
The artworks tell stories of family, identity and connection. I was taught dances from the age of 10 and I have performed in South Africa, China and New Zealand and New York.
In 2022 my work was celebrated at New York Fashion Week and I was also awarded the 2022 National NAIDOC Creative Talent Award. This is great recognition for the hard work, dedication and passion I have for my art and culture.”
Idris McChesney
@blobflower_2001 | @idris_wi
“My name is Idris McChesney, I’m a Noongar Transgender Man who grew up on the Coast and up in the Kimberley. I love writing as it’s my favourite form of artwork. I write poems, stories and screenplays. I’m the oldest of seven kids and I love being a big brother to them and to others. “
Bindy Wicks
“I’m Bindy Wicks and I’m a digital and written artist. I was born in Western Australia but have mostly grown up here in Lara and while I’ve always been surrounded by art and a part of this world, my everyday life is basketball, including my job. And schooling is all about English Literature and History. With a visual artist for a mum, my skills were… nurtured very early on and I always found joy in it. However, growing up I quickly found out that written work, like poetry, was my true love. For my digital art I’m mostly self-taught and my poetry has the basic highschool education with my own practices added on top.”
ARTISTS
