Shirley Macnamara
Shirley Anne Macnamara is an Australian Indigenous artist from the Indjilanji/Alyewarre language group of North West Queensland best known for her woven spinifex sculptures.
Early life and education
Macnamara grew up on a cattle station near Camooweal, Queensland, where her family worked. She began her education at . From 1989 she attended Australian Flying Arts School workshops in Queensland, working in watercolour. She also worked with mixed media, installation and sculpture before turning to weaving local spinifex to create organic forms.Work
Using the abundant spinifex grass in her people's country in northwest Queensland her weavings reflect the environment, intertwining the landscape with her personal and ancestral stories.Exhibitions, collections, awards
Solo exhibitions
- 'Dyinala, Nganinya', Queensland Art Gallery
- 'Layered Threads', University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
- 'Maardi Butala', Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
- 'Race against time', Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Group exhibitions
- 15 Artists, Redcliffe Art Gallery, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Queensland, 2019
- 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.
Public collections
- Campbelltown Arts Centre
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
Awards
- 2017 Wandjuk Markira Memorial Three-Dimensional Award, 34th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards