Juanella McKenzie / Project: Mother

Juanella McKenzie
Barngarla, Port Augusta, SA
Project: Mother

Juanella McKenzie, also known as Nelly, is an Adnyamathanha, Luritja and Lower Southern Arrernte woman of South Australia living and working on Barngarla land, Port Augusta. Nelly has been creating multi-disciplinary art her whole life. Having spent much of her childhood on country, learning cultural practices from her elders, she uses art to preserve stories and techniques. Crediting her mother, Regina McKenzie, as being one of her mentors, Nelly's art practice she now passes on to her 4 children. For Nelly, art is essential to maintaining connection to country and family. Nelly's artwork has been acquired by the National Museum of Australia, the National Museum of Scotland and by art collectors worldwide. She has been in countless exhibitions since childhood, community projects and a finalist at numerous art awards.

Mother, a multi-piece installation featuring McKenzie's unique ability to weave intricate yet detailed stories through woven emu feathers will be created after weaving workshops with First Nations women living across South Australia. In these workshops McKenzie will learn about weaving techniques from the other women both young and old. She will also engage in conversation about womanhood, identity, country and connection through artistic cultural practice of weaving. This research will then form the basis on which to build the multi piece installation of Mother. The outcome will then be presented at the APY Gallery in Adelaide in 2025.

instagram: @Juanella_Mckenzie