A Conversation with Kate Constantine
Since 2015, Willie Weston has collaborated with First Nations artists and art centres throughout Australia to champion the integration of First Nations design into our built environments. Building on our previous careers as art curators, we draw from a deep knowledge of art and ethical partnerships and a drive to provide commercial opportunities
for artists. We are delighted to introduce the Kate Constantine Collection, featuring three artworks by Kate Constantine, a proud Gadigal woman of the Eora nation. In the conversation below, Kate shares some of her creative motivations and processes, the character of her people and how the three designs in the collection came to be.
Artist Kate Constantine with [L-R] Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Kelp', 'Gadi (grass tree)', and 'Shell' and Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) in 'Sunlight', from the Kate Constantine Collection.
[L-R] Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Gadi (grass tree)' and Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) in 'Sunlight' [ottomans] alongside Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Kelp' [drapery] and 'Reed' [acoustic panel], from the Kate Constantine Collection.
As a proud Koori woman of the Gadigal people, your work is inextricably linked to the Country, Culture and histories of your kin. What is the physical location, geography and character of your home?
The Gadigal are one of the 29 clan groups that make up the Eora Nation. Eora in our language means ‘people from here’. The Gadigal occupy the most beautiful harbour in the world. Our rough boundaries are marked by significant typographical and environmental changes in landscape. We occupy the space from the Pyrmont Bridge all the way to South Head all on the southern side of Sydney Harbour. We are lucky to share that harbour with our Cammeraygal neighbours to the north, the Bidjigal to the south east and the Wangal to our west.
I often daydream about what this iconic harbour would have looked like pre-Colonisation, and in my dreams it is picture perfect. We Gadigal, of multiple fixed addresses, would move 6-8 times per year and follow instinctively the seasonal cycles set by Country, sustainably utilising Country and her resources. Middens from the areas have proven that our seasonal movement kept sea life, shellfish, roo and many plants in a type of ecological harmony.
“The Gadigal occupy the most beautiful harbour in the world. Our rough boundaries are marked by significant typographical and environmental
changes in landscape. ”
You describe the Gadigal as a ‘good graced mob,’ and are tireless in your efforts to connect both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to Culture through your work. How do you articulate the spirit and character of your people?
Until I connected with mob, I did not know what grace was. The Gadigal were and are in an ongoing struggle to rightly claim our place in our Country. We were at ground zero of Colonisation over 230 years ago, when an entirely alien force erupted onto our shores (bringing disease, cruelty and challenging our previously harmonious way of life). And yet there are accounts of our women sharing fish with starving convicts; showing the white women where and what to pick from our abundant natural resources to avoid scurvy, dysentery and death.
That grace, that humanity, and the concept that as individuals are not more important than the collective is something I cherish and wish to honour in everything I do.
[L-R] Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Sea' [acoustic panel] and 'Kelp' [floor], Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) in 'Badu (water)' and Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Sea' [hanging], from the Kate Constantine Collection.
Your work has often featured dot-making techniques. In this new collection for Willie Weston, we are seeing a new side to your work, featuring delicate and expressive line drawings. What do you enjoy about the medium of drawing?
I have always been fond of drawing. My nana used to make patterns and clothes and I used help. At age five or six I had a greeting card stall out the front of my suburban Sydney home selling cards I had drawn or traced from characters I loved at the time. Drawing has been a constant for me.
At times, I’ve had health issues which at times have rendered me unable to move; drawing has always been my companion. Something to take my mind away, to daydream.
“As people who were reliant on our beautiful harbour for housing, safety, medicine and food these key coastal elements speak to both the simplicity and complexity of our relationship to Country.”
In the collection, three designs feature elements from the sea, adornment and coastal flora. How does this subject matter convey the history, Country and Culture you are so passionate about retaining and sharing?
As people who were reliant on our beautiful harbour for housing, safety, medicine and food these key coastal elements speak to both the simplicity and complexity of our relationship to Country. Much of this wisdom has either been lost, misplaced or manipulated over the years and it is only now that we have this rich opportunity to start piecing these beautiful connections back together.
Artist Kate Constantine and Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Kelp' from the Kate Constantine Collection.
Academic research informs your work. In addition to wisdom from elders, you engage with academics from Gadigal territory and beyond, including the British Museum. Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women’s feather adornment) features a beautiful drawing by an unknown artist, of a woman who you believe to be Gadigal or Bidjigal. How did this work come about?
This work was part of a show I put together in Sydney in 2022 called ‘blak and white’… This show was my small attempt to right the imbalance of power and instead showcase the beauty and joy our Culture has to offer all people in this Country. This abstraction of the most simple and beautiful lyrebird feathered necklace was, for me, a celebration of all that is joyous.
How does research help you to share the stories of your people, Country and Culture?
The research, if I’m completely honest, lends me strength. It allows me to connect with my identity as a Gadigal woman in a way that is considered, quiet and contemplative. I didn’t grow up in Aboriginal Culture as many do… my understanding of how our family fits into this patchwork quilt of Aboriginal Australia [came] later in my life. These were secrets taken to the grave, and I’m respectful of why that had to be the case. That said, I feel so sad to have been denied our story for so long.
Research also allows me to give back…to speak about Culture and what’s important to me in this life’s journey, through the words of others. It gives me the greatest joy to devour [historical] accounts and spot us Gadigal in the margins.
Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment)
This design references an historical drawing Kate came across while conducting research for an exhibition, depicting a woman wearing a beautiful necklace crafted from lyrebird feathers.
[L-R] Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Shell' and Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) in 'Badu (water)',from the Kate Constantine Collection.
You have said that Gadigal women have ‘some of the most beautiful jewellery and adornments recorded,’ with feathers often a feature. What do they represent in this design?
The feathers in Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul are lyrebird feathers, birds that are long extinct on our Country. Like the Emu, Magpie Goose and many other avian friends, these were very quickly wiped out with the influx of immigrants to our shores.
Feathers, reeds delicately scored and varnished in our natural lacquers make up most of the Gadigal adornment collection at the British Museum. The delicate way in which these adornment pieces are worked by the women takes my breath away. You have to remind yourself that these exquisite pieces were not only made by hand with no machination whatsoever, but they were also created around tireless commitments to family, food, movement etc.
And yet, they were still revered. They were beautiful but actually not very functional and could have been considered a waste of labour, but they were not. They were considered art, modes of self-expression and the deep time each took to make was considered worthy of every minute.
“We are saltwater people. The ocean is our Country as much as the land and the animals and the plants.”
Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) celebrates Gadigal connection to water. This design resonates with the movement and feeling of the sea. What is the story behind its creation and what does the ocean represent - to you and your people?
We are saltwater people. The ocean is our Country as much as the land and the animals and the plants.
This particular piece was created in the weeks after having my third child - connecting to water, to identity and motherhood. This time, after having a child reawakens the necessary sense of the matriarch: the protector of her children, the educator and the survivor.
I am a saltwater woman. I draw strength from badu (water), particularly that of the sea and from our glorious harbour homelands. As a rich food source, the sea has always been vital to our survival. But it is also part of our cultural knowledge system - a system that informs our wisdom and educates those whose initiation rights deem them ready to receive.
Crawl
Crawl is an ode to Karkalla, to Native Pigface, an iconic blue-green succulent with bright fuchsia pink flowers found all along the east coast of Australia.
Crawl features Karkalla (native pigface) - the iconic blue-green succulent found on coastlines. It is a hugely useful plant, as a food source, medicinal ingredient and protector of the dunes. What is its place in the collection and why do you think it will it work well in interiors?
The Karkalla is whimsical but useful, structural but soft. It reminds me of woman. This work is a great reminder of the simplicity of things - the gentle approach to our natural world rewards us with joy.
For almost a decade, you have worked on Bundjalung Country, surrounded by nature. How does this help you create and tell stories through your work?
How lucky am !? I come from the most beautiful and abundant harbour in the world, Gadigal Land, and I live and work in arguably the most beautiful country up on Bundjalung where development and density are words that are unheard of.
I live literally in the bush atop a mountain and sometimes I can go a week or more without driving my car or seeing anyone other than my family or people who drop by. Being surrounded by the quiet of nature has been most inspiring for my arts practice. It allows me to be fully vulnerable and not intimidated by criticism.
It’s a bubble. I can try things out that work and don’t work and no one knows or cares. It’s a freedom to be far away but still close enough to engage.
Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines)
This design celebrates the Gadigal connection to water. For saltwater people, the sea is vital for survival and an integral part of cultural knowledge systems.
Above: Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) in 'Sunlight' [foreground] and Dyin Bangada: Ngunyul (Women's feather adornment) in 'Shell' [background]. Left: Garrigarrang Narang (Tidelines) in 'Badu (water)', from the Kate Constantine Collection.
What have you enjoyed most about bringing this collection together?
There has never been an opportunity to bring Gadigal stories into this type of market place. There has, rightly so, always been a place for the beauty of desert mobs’ designs – we all need these in our lives! But the pride of being able to share a small slice of what fuels me every day, what makes me grateful and what stitches me to my Culture, is an absolute privilege.
Working with the fab girls at Willie Weston has also been undeniably enriching. It’s been so wonderful to watch your previous collection with Lisa Waup (who I am a massive fan of) just feel full of authenticity and also of uniqueness - doing things differently that makes this feel pretty unreal.
Why is it important to have First Nations representations of these elements in our built environments? How do we all benefit from having these visual stories around us?
‘You can’t be it if you can’t see it’ is a saying that fuels a lot of my thinking. Taking up space with our stories is not our right as Aboriginal people but is our Cultural Privilege. We all walk the same Earth, it’s our stories that make us unique. These stories are uniquely Gadigal and allow the viewer to walk with us on Country.
“These stories are uniquely Gadigal and allow the viewer to walk with us on Country. ”
The Kate Constantine Collection is available across our range of
commercial fabrics and wallpapers. Please get in touch for sampling.
Ottomans: Plus Workspace.
Acoustic panelling: Autex Acoustics.
Photography: Martina Gemmola.