A soft palette of pastels and earthy tones reflects the dreamy colours of the environment and water for Noongar artist Megan Corby.
In Manjimup Art Gallery’s latest exhibition called Koondarm Wangkiny, Corby’s artwork is on display alongside fellow Noongar artist Graham ‘Swag’ Taylor, until July.
The joint exhibition celebrates the artists as they incorporate the Indigenous tradition of visual storytelling through their creations.
Corby said Swag is an artist she has looked up to for many years.
Progressing from a hobby painter to having her works now exhibited alongside Swag, Corby said she met him while working through the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery years ago.
His works inspired her own art journey.
“Every single year I see his artwork, I’m consistently blown away by his knowledge and experience — it’s phenomenal,” Corby said.
“I’m inspired by lots of people, but I love the colour choices he’s always used. His way of blending is so beautiful.
Corby started her art journey while working at the gallery but stopped until two years ago when she decided to pick up the paint brush again.
“People started to offer to buy things off me and encouraged me to have a go at exhibitions and competitions,” she said.
Taking on their suggestions, she also created an Instagram page to feature her paintings. Her work is now commissioned throughout Australia.
Corby said the Manjimup exhibition incorporates her own memories and daydreaming rather than traditional ancestor stories.
Her mother is a Murri woman born in Brisbane and raised in Tweed Heads, while her father is Noongar, born in Wagin.
She derives memories of her youth and travel around Australia while also capturing the moments of her own children as they grow in the South West region.
Corby said she is “very much a daydreamer” but also likes to think about how her ancestors lived and what they may have experienced.
“I like to read up on different ways our ancestors did things and add in my own take on thinking of them transitioning from the inland back to the coast,” she said.
“It’s more contemporary than it is traditional.”
Her first solo exhibition is coming soon, with Koondarm Wangkiny on display at the Manjimup Art Gallery until July 5.