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Green Leaves Seaford Meadows made a little brighter with First Nations art from parent
Freya Lucas
Aug 31, 2023
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Children and families at Green Leaves Seaford Meadows are enjoying their outdoor space just a little bit more thanks to the introduction of some artwork lovingly created by one of the parents in the community, First Nations artist Elisabeth, originally from Wiradjuri country in Orange, New South Wales.
Her work was formally unveiled at the eighth birthday celebrations for the service, and is part of a broader art project Elisabeth is undertaking with the children to expand their knowledge of Aboriginal culture.Elisabeth first became acquainted with Green Leaves Seaford Meadows when her two sons enrolled in the service, and was delighted to transform part of the outdoor playscape, known to the children as their ‘Zen Garden’.
Surrounded by a circle of tree stumps reminiscent of a gathering place, the colourful masterpiece is part of the learning journey the children have been on, which has included learning more about the meaning behind a range of symbols and being encouraged to use their imagination to determine what other symbols could mean.
Elisabeth believes that children are able to relate to art, specifically storytelling through visual symbols which is how Aboriginal culture passes on knowledge and information. It’s a wonderful way to start conversations and evoke their own storytelling abilities.
Her journey to sharing her culture with the Green Leaves community began when she visited her son's kindy room on Indigenous Literacy Day to share a little about First Nations Culture and to do a hands-on workshop with the children about the importance of storytelling through art.
From there, the broader art project began, with Elisabeth sharing that she chose to get involved “because I wanted to give back to my community in some way and to share knowledge about Aboriginal culture. All children can relate to art and specifically storytelling.”
“I, myself, can still remember so clearly my nan and pop teaching me what different symbols meant and also why they painted them where they did on the didgeridoos and in art. Everything had a meaning and a reason for being where it was.
“I wanted to help expose the children to some Indigenous (sic.) culture and to help start a conversation that otherwise might not happen. Because of their age, these conversations will stem around the art and symbols, yet I also wanted to evoke their own storytelling abilities and have them be able to look at it and interpret it in perhaps a different way to their peers.
“For example, use the meaning of the symbols to tell different stories, perhaps about why the animals are going this way or that, why the people are meeting? What are they talking about? Do the curvy lines represent snakes or perhaps dreaming spirits? Are the animals going near the water because they are thirsty? It’s really a collaboration between artist and student.
“Lastly, I chose bright colours to engage the students and to bring a contemporary twist. I, myself, use bright colours in my artworks and I wanted to bring this into the rock.”
The ‘rock’ is the canvas for Elisabeth’s work, and stands proudly in the Zen Garden.
“It is an area where the children gather to sit, share, have quiet time and come together to do activities,” she explained. “As such, I wanted to paint a scene depicting ‘meeting places’, along with some animal tracks, humans, symbols depicting various parts of nature such as rainbows, stars, waterholes and also some other symbols such as circles and lines that I’ve left up for interpretation of the students so that they can begin to tell their own ‘dreaming’ stories when looking at the rock.
“The front of the rock depicts three meeting places that are connected. There are large arches around these depicting humans sitting around the meeting place. Traditionally these could mean campfires, meeting places or waterholes depending on how it was depicted. I’ve painted smaller arches on the inside to indicate small children present in these meeting circles.
“To the left, there’re large kangaroo tracks that start from the bottom and work their way up to the top of the rock. At the top, there’s a rainbow and some stars dotted around.
“Around the other side of the rock, you’ll spot Emu tracks, and some more animal tracks. As for what animals these represent, I will leave this up for the children to use their imaginations as to what animals one might find on Country.
“On the left side, there are two waterholes connected by running water. This was a nod to my country as Wiradjuri land is bordered by three rivers and water is very important to the people living there and to the animals that gather there.”
To get to know Elisabeth a little more, read this special feature. More information about Green Leaves Seaford Meadows is available here.
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