Raining On Eora (Sydney, 2022)
I am Kate Constantine, a concrete Koori, from the big bustling urban metropolis known as the City of Sydney. I am a proud Gadigal woman, mother, and contemporary artist of the Eora Nation. The Eora Nation is made up of 29 clans, and originally the home, it is believed, to 10 separate language groups. This vast nation is bound by the three mighty rivers - the Hawkesbury River to the north; Mobs up that way call it the Darkinjung, The Nepean to the west the Deerubbin and the Georges River to the south Kayimai.
A highly evocative series of Raining Series pieces have been created out of sustainably foraged natural ochres and earth pigments collected on Country. The collection is made up of 10 x large format works created using over 50 layers of ochres foraged in each of the 10 original language groups and named after each clan group accordingly.
The ochres, or the rocks in their most basic visual form, make up part of the rich tapestry of Country. Caring for Country, protecting her, and telling her story is what has driven my insatiable need to bring these works to life.
Combined with the physical collection of the natural ochres and pigments has been a long process of milling these natural elements into dust, sifting and sorting, labelling, and communicating with them. I like to think Country has chosen me to be its Yellamundie (storyteller) for this collection of works. In contemporary Australia there is an insatiable appetite for the sharing of Aboriginal Culture, this is great and honestly the celebration of our Culture is long overdue. Though much more emphasis needs to go into education and truth telling that accompanies that sharing.
The story isn’t always happy, but it is always truth.
This collection has taken almost 2 years to create. A labour of both utter enchantment and absolute soul-destroying devastation for me personally. I have laughed, but mostly I have cried.
This body of work has taken over one thousand hours create. Reading, researching, listening to podcasts, university lectures, being yelled at by construction companies, trusts, charities, speaking with PDH thesis authors, book authors, historians, archaeologists and I have physically grounded myself and sat on each place within Country, silently speaking with our Old People...and these works are what they have asked me to say.
