Aunty Glenda Nicholls
Aunty Glenda Nicholls — 'Willy Willy', Sculptural Weaving, 2025
Living in the country one can’t not but notice patches of soil dancing across the landscape. These are called Willy Willy Whirlwind but sometimes known as a Dust Devil. These happen when patches of hot air rise with cooler air picking up soil from the ground and whirling it round and round like a mini tornado and sometimes picking up what lies in its path.
Aunty Glenda's work shows a willy willy whirlwind picking up native wildflowers on its turnaround through mallee scrubland.
This is “Willy Willy”.
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As a Wadi Wadi, Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindgeri artist, Aunty Glenda Nicholls grew up around the Swan Hill area. Glenda watched her mother and Grandmother make feather flowers and do basket weaving. Her cultural name is Jule Yarra Minj (‘little river girl’) and her maternal Ngarrindjeri totem is the Writcharuki (willy-willy wagtail). She is a master weaver, constructing elaborate sculptural works that connect the present with her ancestral past. She applies cultural weaving techniques acquired from her ancestors alongside knowledge of the waterways, plants and grasses on her Country.
She believes in generational family storylines, as it shares these traditions with future generations. Her work is represented in the Koorie Heritage Trust Collection along with those of her mother and grandmother.
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Main Gallery
March 15 - May 3 2025
A contemporary response to the heritage and legacies of craft practice, featuring the work of six diverse practitioners.
Material: jute, string, cotton, feathers
Dimensions: approx. 200cm tall
Please note when purchasing, exhibition works are to be collected when exhibition closes.