When Ceduna artist Jaylene Ware lost her father, the onslaught of grief brought with it a decision — numb the pain, or find an outlet for the stories, memories, and feelings provoked by loss.
“I started painting, and I just kept painting, and then there was a point in time where it was almost like ‘I need to get this out of my head’,” she said.
“I was seeing all these different colours and stories, and it was just like the floodgates had opened in my mind. I was like ‘oh my God, I just need to get this out’.”
As a trained Aboriginal mental health first aid worker, Ms Ware was intimately aware that having an outlet was crucial in periods of loss.
What began as a way to preserve memories and explore her grief blossomed into a thriving art career, as she joined the ranks of artists from a town known for its distinctive art scene.
It is allowing Ms Ware, who has Wirangu, Kokatha, and Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara heritage, to bring attention to life in Ceduna.
“I want to talk about grief. I want to talk about mental health. I want to talk about families being together and connections,” she said of her inspirations.
“I want to talk about the colours of the sea. I want to talk about the different shades of sand, sunsets, sunrises.”
Inspired by the west coast
On the edge of the Nullarbor, Ceduna’s surrounds are a confluence of sea, land, and desert known for its dry inland salt lakes, soaks, and sandhills.
Artists draw inspiration from the diverse natural environment as well as the rich cultural history of the area before and after colonisation.
Wirangu, Kokatha, Mirning, Maralinga Tjarutja, and Yalata people share a native title claim covering the far west coast of SA up to the Western Australian border.
Since Arts Ceduna opened in 2011, the Aboriginal-led gallery has represented hundreds of artists and provided economic and artistic opportunities for artists from a remote corner of the country.
Ceduna artists have taken out the Malka Aboriginal Art Prize for the past three years and have work displayed in European galleries.
Local ceramicist and former director of Arts Ceduna, Pam Diment, said it was a boon for the community to have a flourishing art scene.
“It’s such a credit to have the art centre here in Ceduna. It has just done awesome, feel-good stuff for people — empowering people, bringing a financial return,” she said.
“It’s made people notice Ceduna as a really good Indigenous art centre.”
Cultural preservation
Indigenous Australian art is generating $250 million annually, according to a 2022 Productivity Commission report that found strong art centres are crucial for the future growth of the industry.
Up to 130 artists are currently represented by the Ceduna gallery with numerous independent artists also working in the community.
Arts Ceduna manager Serena Gunther said artists did essential cultural preservation through capturing stories and songlines in their work.
“It is something very positive, something they can use to capture their culture, their stories, language, and share and pass it down to the younger generation,” she said.
“We have a lot of family groups where the elders are teaching the next generation, and their daughters or sons are then teaching the third generation.”
The same report also found that unauthentic art created by non-Indigenous people remains a problem.
It is a challenge that regional art centres can help overcome, according to Art Gallery of South Australia’s curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander work Nici Cumpston.
“Art centres help support artists to be safe and secure, and they sell work that’s been created ethically,” she said.
“Then they’re also being paid appropriately for the work that they’ve created.”
New gallery to boost local artists
A new $6 million arts and cultural centre is currently under construction on Ceduna’s foreshore.
The gallery was funded with federal government money designed to promote self-determination and support job opportunities in the former Cashless Debit Card town.
The social, economic, and wellbeing benefits of selling and creating art will have a lasting legacy, according to Ms Ware.
“There are benefits of creating something that you own and is yours, and you don’t answer to nobody — apart from your elders,” Ms Ware said.
“It’s that mentoring too, teaching the younger ones. Saying ‘hey, that’s deadly, maybe add this colour’. Guiding them.
“That’s happened over a number of generations. Our next lot of artists, can you imagine what they’re going to be like?”