LeShaye Swan
LeShaye Swan — 'Clay Kin I', 2025
Clay Kin brings together seven dynamic artists in a landmark collaboration between the APY Art Centre Collective (APYACC) and Craft Victoria. This exhibition celebrated the expansion of APYACC artists into contemporary ceramics, offering Melbourne audiences a rare glimpse into the evolving material practices of First Nations makers.
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LeShaye Swan
Language: Yankunytjatjara
LeShaye was born in Alice Spring in 2001 and is a Yankunytjatjara woman. At the age of one her grandmother, fellow artist Sandra Pumani brought LeShaye to Mimilli, a remote aboriginal community on the APY Lands in South Australia. From the age of one Leshay was raised on country by Sandra and the Pumani family.
LeShaye fondly remembers the elder women taking her out on bush trips whilst Sandra was at work, particularly Milatjari Pumani and Ngupulya Pumani. “We would go out and they would teach me about traditional life”. LeShaye learnt to weave, make punu and hunt for witchetty grubs and other bush medicines. LeShaye was taught about the dreamtime stories around Mimilli, which would later inform her artworks. LeShaye’s colourful ceramic vessels are decorated with plants native to Bucket Well, a homeland not far from Mimili community where she grew up.
LeShaye now resides in Adelaide and works at the APY Art Centre Collective Studio. She is an exceptional emerging ceramicist and is part of the Blak Manta First Nations ceramics collective.
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APY Art Centre Collective x Craft
June 19 – July 26
Clay Kin is a testament to the strength of kinship, culture and creative innovation. It marks a significant moment in contemporary Australian ceramics, where ancestral knowledge meets new forms, and where clay becomes a vessel for both tradition and transformation.
Artists in this exhibition represent many communities and art centres which are at the heart of the APY Lands. Founded in 2017, the APY Art Centre Collective is an initiative that provides support, resources, and opportunities for First Nations artists from the APY Lands and beyond. Through exhibitions, workshops, and cultural exchanges, the collective aims to promote Indigenous voices, foster cross-cultural understanding, and generate economic opportunities for Aboriginal communities.
Tiarnie Edwards / Yatitji Heffernan / Jennifer Ingkatji / Josina Pumani / Debra Umala / LeShaye Swan / Tjimpuna Williams
Read more about the exhibition here:
Material: Clay sculptural vessel
Dimensions: 20 x 17 x 17cm
Cat. no: 259-25AS
Please note when purchasing, exhibition works are to be collected when exhibition closes.
Shipping costs may be estimates. Please feel free to contact shop@craft.org.au who will be available to provide an Art Courier quote or shipping costs for larger items.