Shirley Macnamara lives outdoors Mt Isa in North West Queensland in which she operates a thriving cattle residence with her son, and is also immersed in her family’s cultural and political analysis.
In 2013 Macnamara started to make skullcaps, reminiscent of a customary funerary observe for some Aboriginal girls where their heads were being plastered with white clay or burnt gypsum to form a cap, masking their hair entirely. The donning of this cap could extend for some time soon after a demise, with successive coatings producing it hefty and awkward for the widow or female relative of the deceased.
In Skullcap 2013 (illustrated), Macnamara doesn’t try to imitate the caps uncovered in museum collections and illustrations, rather, she intends to honour Aboriginal gentlemen who represented Australia in two planet wars, never to return to their beloved types. She hopes to make sure that Aboriginal troopers are no for a longer period forgotten. Skullcap is manufactured from loaded, red ochre and is protected with emu feathers, which allude to these made use of to beautify Australian soldiers’ uniform hats (illustrated).
Shirley Macnamara ‘Skullcap’
Gentle Horse slouch hat with emu plume
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Highlighted picture depth: Shirley Macnamara Skullcap 2013
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