NAOMI GREEN
Worimi Dreaming

2022
acrylic on canvas
92 x 61cm

I grew up disconnected from culture and only exposed to Western religions and spirituality. None of which made sense to me. Now as an adult, Aboriginal culture and spirituality give me words for things I felt were true but didn’t have the words for.

Country is more than just soil, plants and animals; it has spirit. Our country is our mother and the land, animals, plants and even rocks have spirit and deserve respect. It is that spirituality, rather than the visual appearance of Worimi country which I aimed to depict here. The huge Tasmanian Tiger and kookaburras and waratahs are the spirits of my ancestors. Tasmanian tigers once roamed our entire continent so I used this extinct animal in a contemporary setting to convey the Aboriginal sense of non linear time and the agelessness of Worimi country and our connection to it.