Waabii Adele Chapman-Burgess

A proud Ngarrabul/Gamilaraay/Yuwaalaraay/Kooma yinaar from the New England area of NSW with 30 years in Aboriginal Education

EDUCATION

• Masters in Indigenous Language Education (MILE) University of Sydney

• University of Sydney B.A.(Hons). Dip. Ed

• University of Sydney. Assoc Dip (Early Child Care Studies

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Creative Practice

• Partner in Quindalup Aboriginal Art and Photograph

• Aboriginal Creative Workshops for schools and communities

Teaching

Current

• TAFE NSW Department of Education and Training – Glen Innes/Inverell

Aboriginal arts and Cultural Practices, Aboriginal Family & Kinship, Aboriginal Cultural Values, Aboriginal Art, History 1, Aboriginal Art History 2

Previous

• TAFE NSW Department of Education and Training - Aboriginal Health and Education

• Emmaville Central School

• Glen Innes High School • Glen Innes Public School

• St. Josephs Convent School - Aboriginal Educational Aide (4 year)

EXHIBITIONS

Group Exhibitions

2018

New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale Myall Creek and Beyond

Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place, Armidale Bulaar Yinaa’s Gimabi-li -Two Women to Make

2017

Inverell Art Gallery NAIDOC exhibition Our Languages Matter

Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place, Armidale For the Love of Culture and Country

Inland Café, Tamworth Ngaya-gal Gimubi-Li -Our Mob Creates

2016

Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place, Armidale Making Old Markings New

Art on the Corner, Glen Innes Recognition

COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS AND WORKSHOPS

2019

Artmaking and stallholder Lift Off! Festival of the Wind, Glen Innes

2015

Glen Innes Town Mural – working with students from the Glen Innes High School

COMMISSIONS

• Glen Innes Lands Services

• Armidale Police Department

• Inverell Child Care

• Glen Innes Aussie Kindies

• Glen Innes High School

I have always had an interest in art and I have been painting on and off all my life. My paintings are about my many journeys and the many hats I wear – it is my spiritual strength and learning more about my family connections to the places, we visit. My spirit has grown stronger and wiser over time (55 plus years) as I continue to gain more knowledge of my Aboriginal cultural heritage.

‘Connection to country is inherent, we are born to it, it is how we identify ourselves, and it is our family, our laws/lore, and our legacy’ …My art/weaving takes on many forms. I bring a modern expression to an ancient custom. Despite significant change and diversity, art retains an underlying unity of inspiration—the land and the peoples’ relationships with it. It is simultaneously connected to the past whilst engaged with the present.

My art/weaving is engaging with the world through actions which are lively, positive, political, social and creative. I love the way tasks overlap with memories. I enjoy painting and weaving for healing, to feel good and to connect to my unique Aboriginal culture. My paintings and weaves are merely a new form incorporating the classic elements of Aboriginal Life. They state a person's relationship to those around them, to the land and to the Dreaming. They also represent a new context of interaction between Aboriginal and western societies – as a First Nation artist I need to be able to ‘walk in two worlds’, I need to be two ways strong, strong in traditional culture and strong in the new ways – contemporary ways.

Through modern art and the knowledge holder of cultural practices of weaving I am able to introduce and pass on my culture to my community and the world beyond. I am an artist who loves to use contemporary colours in my artworks and weaving. I love to share my cultural practices with friends and family it keeps my spirit strong to see the joy my art/weaving brings to them. I use a wide range of modern materials and techniques to create contemporary works of art. My inspiration comes from creation, the old people, the inner spirit, my family connections, my life journey and what makes me happy.