Artist Spotlight featuring Nyree (Ngari) Reynolds

Posted by Aboriginal Art Directory | 24.04.08

1. Briefly describe yourself. When and how did you first become interested in art? How long have you been a practising artist?

My daughter wrote to me once, referring to me, a quote from Robert Browning to his wife, Elizabeth 'She has a heart too soon made glad'. I take pleasure in doing simple things, in nature, and when I commune with the land and with Spirit, with my family and friends, in-cluding, of course, the pet contingent. It doesn't take too much to make me content. I have always painted and drawn. My earliest memories are of sitting with my pets and painting stories and pretending I was in my paintings. They took me lots of places in my imagination. I have been painting professionally for 11 years.

2. What is important to you in your art? What are you aspiring for with the art that you create?

The stories I paint are what makes my paintings important to me. I am aspiring to tell stories of our People that some have been unable to tell.

3. What do you find to be the most exciting and challenging parts about being an artist?

The most exciting is when my work is recognized by being shortlisted in Exhibitions and I get to see my works in prestigious Galleries. I still find it exciting when my work is sold, that people like it enough to buy it. The challenging part is coming up with new ideas, especially with the workshops I facilitate.

4. What are the growth or evolutionary opportunities for Aboriginal art in the society you live in?

We are working on that here in the Central West of NSW where I live. One of the ways we are doing that is with a project involving the Aboriginal inmates from Bathurst Gaol's Girrawaa Centre. Through a series of art workshops they will create a piece of art which will be in their own exhibition at Cowra Gallery in July. This will hopefully create opportunities for further exhibitions and work in the art field for these participants. It's an exciting initiative and one we hope will expand to other facilities. Ongoing support is needed for these people when they leave gaol. It is so badly needed.

5. In your opinion, what role does a contemporary Aboriginal artist have in the society you live in?

I feel a contemporary Aboriginal artist tells stories the same as the Traditional people do with their art, we just do it in a different way. It is all story telling.

6. Who have been your greatest heroes in helping you take this creative path? How did they influence you?

I really don't like the term 'heroes' in this context and don't have any heroes, I never have. My creative path began with my Mum who encouraged me and bought me art gear from a very early age, it just went on from there to a husband and family and friends who are totally supportive. I learned a lot about exhibiting and the business side of art by being a member of the Blayney Shire Arts Council, then as an artist member of Boomalli as well as being part of the very enthusiastic art community here in the west. I hope I don't sound egotistical but I'm not influenced by other people, I tend to walk to the beat of my own drum and learn that way.

7. Which artists do you find inspirational?

I have always loved Russell Drysdale's paintings, the colours, the feel of the people he paints. They stand on the canvas, so self contained, like the Drover's Wife, she is who she is, and that's OK. Roxanne Minchin, from Broken Hill, paints in the most vibrant outback colours, her paintings are inspirational to me. The disabled participants, the kids and the aged people in my art workshops that are so inspiring when they don't think they can paint and they produce something magical.

8. Describe the space that you work in?

Oh, yikes, it was tidy for a week once, that's when I wasn't working in it. It's a great place, it's in the front of our house and it's my creative, nurturing, comfortable retreat that I share with our Chihuahuas and Siamese cats. I'd like to blame them for the disorderly state of my studio....but I can't....and they wouldn't accept the blame anyway.

9. When do you feel most creative?

When I am immersed in the glow of the spectacular sunsets that we have here in the west; standing under a full moon in the clear night sky with the Southern Cross winking at me telling the story of it's creation; in the majesty of the Warrumbungle Range, the Snowy Mountains, Mt Canobolas; in the never ending red earth land beyond Condobolin to Broken Hill and then some. And when I hear stories that touch me deeply. These all combine to create my Indigenous paintings. Then there are the pets who inspire me every day to want to recreate them on paper.

10. What do you want people to take away with them when they see your art?

My first thought when I read this question was that it would be good if people buy one of my paintings, that's what they can take away. But one of the really satisfying aspects to come out of my Stolen Generations series is when people tell me they had never really thought about what had happened to the children who were taken. I would like them to take an awareness away and to look with different eyes and to hear with new ears the stories that they will hear about the people from the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal people.

11. Tell us about the last artwork you created and what was the story behind it?

The last artwork I created was called 'No longer a Mirage'. It was from my Stolen Generations series and it showed Aboriginal girls in their white dresses superimposed over a landscape with a mirage in the background. I did that painting to celebrate The Apology by Kevin Rudd on behalf of the Australian Parliament. The Apology moved from being a mirage to finally being a reality. I donated this painting to Orange City Council at the Apology ceremony at the Council Chambers on behalf of our Community here in the Central West.

12. Nyree you talk a lot about story telling in your art and as an artist. What story do you think has been the most moving or powerful for you (as the story teller) and for your audience?

Without doubt it's my Stolen Generations series of paintings. My sister has been tracing our family history for quite a few years and by reading the death certificates of our Indigenous ancestors some of them have 'Mother unknown'. As my aunty burned all the photos and documentation from our family and my Mum said 'things weren't talked about' we can only guess what stories may have happened in our own family. I feel this is why I paint so much of the Stolen Generations people, their stories are inside of me through linking with my ancestors. They are able to speak through what I do. And I know this to be true as unless I really connect with who I'm painting the painting doesn't work. It doesn't have life.

This has been shown to me by seeing people standing in front of my paintings with tears in their eyes saying that they have been touched by what they are seeing at a deep level. Some people that buy my work are very protective about the children I paint. I heard one woman say to her newly bought painting ' Come on, girls, we're going home now'. Another painting was bought because the woman in the painting had such an inner strength that the woman who bought it said when she was feeling vulnerable or sad she drew on this strength. I've also had a couple of people say to me that they are 'over' my Stolen Generations paintings. Sorry.... they'd better get used to seeing them, there are a lot more stories yet to be told.

( *All of the content in this interview is directly quoted from the artist - Aboriginal Art Directory)

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