Image: Trudy INKAMALA Bird woman 2018, woolen blanket, knitting wool, cotton, feathers, metal. QUT Art Collection. Purchased 2018.
This artwork is 60 centimetres high by 50 centimetres wide and is a textile sculpture of a figure made from woollen blanket, knitting wool, cotton, feathers and metal. The work is displayed on a reflective, circular mirrored plinth. The work can be viewed from all sides, front and back.
The figure is positioned with its brown felt arms or wings outstretched, perhaps in readiness for an embrace or flight. The facial expression is joyful, with a smile and bright painted lips stitched in pink yarn. The figure is looking down towards the ground below, and the left foot is jauntily stepping out in front causing the bird woman to lean slightly to the right. A very colourful dress is worn, with bright orange and blue horizontal bands of yarn stitched in rows across the figures’ middle. A vivid green line is stitched towards the bottom of the dress and travels from left to right; a very vibrant colour on this cheery bird woman. Beneath her dress her right foot is covered in dark blue yarn and the left foot, orange, like woollen booties.
Sprouting from her head are 6 peacock feathers, three with the distinctive eye pattern and the iridescent emerald greens and blues for which they are renowned. They stick out in different directions with a flamboyance typical of the formal decorative headwear known as fascinators.
The back of the sculpture is stitched with a blanket material, with a bright blue and purple pattern. A thin band of bright green yarn is stitched across the waist while horizontally stitched dark blue columns travel down from this waist band to the bottom of the dress.
Trudy Inkamala is represented by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists located in the heart of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in the Larapinta Valley Town Camp. Originally established in 2000 as a response to the chronic social issues faced by the town camp, Yarrenyty Arltere Town Camp Artists started as an arts training project. In 2002, the community identified the enterprise as a goal and in 2008 the enterprise was established. Now a vibrant and dynamic hub, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists is seen as an important part in rebuilding strength and creating economic access for the local community. As Trudy affirms, “When my husband passed away in 2013 my sister Dulcie was asking me every day to come and do sewing. She told me I can't stay at home by myself, too boring, too lonely. Now I'm here every day, I get on the bus to come to do sewing every day and to have a good laugh.”
Trudy Inkamala’s language group is Arrernte, Luritja Central Desert region, Mparntwe (Alice Springs).