For Wiradjuri woman Ronda Sharpe, art is more than just a hobby or career.
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It's a way to connect with her culture and show her respect for country.
By turning items which would otherwise be tossed away into intricate woven creations, the Parkes-based artist hopes to create conversations around consumer culture.
"My practice focuses on caring for country and exposing our current throwaway society practices by combining the use of repurposed mediums such as data and electrical cables destined to landfill and natural elements found on country," Ms Sharpe said.
For the first time, Ms Sharpe's work has gone on exhibition at the Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC) in Dubbo as part of the HomeGround program.
The exhibition, 'Interwoven Connections', is a collection of fibre art that explores Ms Sharpe's connections to Wiradjuri culture, country, artefacts and mother Earth.
"This exhibition has encouraged me to expand my art practice and explore recycled, natural mediums to create a series of contemporary woven sculptured art forms that acknowledges my Wiradjuri culture and provides a visual narrative of the traditional tools used by my ancestors and 'Yindayamarra' (respect) for Mother Earth," Ms Sharpe said.
WPCC Curator Mariam Abboud said Interwoven Connections is a body of work that explores Sharpe's journey of reconnecting and embracing her unspoken and lost Wiradjuri cultural identity.
Through her work she reflects on the ongoing role that cultural artefacts play in the survival and resilience of the voices of the Aboriginal community.
"Ronda's body of work pays homage to cultural and contemporary Wiradjuri practices as she repurposes man made material into the form of cultural artefacts," Ms Abboud said.
"Her practice reaffirms the resilience, strength and survival of the First Nations cultural identity.
"The exhibition's intent is to strengthen and reiterate Ronda's own ties, utilising weaving as an element to physically and metaphorically reconnect to her own lost cultural identity."
The exhibition will be on display from November 4, 2023 to January 14, 2024.
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