Aunty Desiree Walker, 'Eel trap' [progress image] 2023, raffia
Image:
Aunty Desiree WALKER
Eel trap [progress image] 2023
raffia

Monday 3 July, 10—11AM

Join us on the first Monday in July for an artist talk by Aunty Desiree Walker, coinciding with the display of her work within the exhibition Interwoven: Stories of Country from North and South.

Born and raised in Sorrento, Aunty Desiree Walker moved to Melbourne in her early adulthood, and has lived and worked in Benalla for the past 23 years. She has a background working as a deep sea fisher, then began nursing from the age of 18, continuing to work in this space for over twenty years including at Dromana Hospital and various hospitals in Melbourne. Aunty Desiree then turned to studying welfare, and while studying she worked alongside Father Bob Maguire at Emerald Hill Mission, before working for Rumbalara Family Services as a family worker, and then performing psychosocial mental health work for AWAHS and Mind Australia.

Her passion for weaving was fostered nearly twenty years ago through a series of workshops presented by Palawa Elders at the Shepparton-Mooroopna Causeway KidsTown. Aunty Desiree continued to practice weaving for many years, before dedicating herself to her practice in the last four years.

She explains that it is an outlet that she “just loves. In recent years it’s come from the people that surround me. I call for spiritual inspiration and it comes to me.” Beyond those early workshops, her weaving technique is largely self-taught, seeking reference texts to allow her to re-interpret traditional methods, and to learn from mistakes.

Aunty Desiree Walker has exhibited and delivered workshops at North East Artisans, Benalla Art Gallery, GANEAA, and local schools, and also featured in Women of Our Land, an exhibition by North East Victorian Artists presented at the Wangaratta Visitor Information Centre in 2020.

Registration essential: T 03 5760 2619 or gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au

Cost: $2