Veteran weaver Glenda Nicholls has claimed Victoria’s most prestigious and wealthy indigenous art award.
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Ms Nicholls took home $30,000 and the Deadly Art award mantle at the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards at the Art Gallery of Ballarat on Saturday night.
Her life-size woven sculptural work, named A Woman’s Rite of Passage, is comprised of three hand woven cloaks.
The award-winning sculptures take the form of three woven cloaks created to represent indigenous women and the role they play in welcome to country ceremonies.
Ms Nicholls said she was shocked to be picked ahead of 40 other finalists.
“I’m unemployed at the moment, but maybe that’s why (I won),” she laughed.
“I’m still feeling a bit numb and it’s going to take a while to sink in.
“There’s so many artists in the room and for me to be picked is… I can’t describe it.”
Originally from Swan Hill, Ms Nicholls was taught to weave by her mother and grandmother.
Now a grandmother herself, she is committed to passing on her skills and knowledge to the next generation.
Ms Nicholls said the original idea for the cloaks, each named the acknowledgement, the elders and the welcome cloak, was quite different to the final result.
“I was going to call them A Rite of Passage to Country,” she said.
“(But) the collars didn’t match up and something was telling me it was not quite right.
“It dawned on me that they were for women. The cloaks spoke to me – it was a spiritual connection.”
The cloaks are woven from jute string and feature many authentic Australian items, including emu feathers.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2015, the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards were established by the former Bracks Labor Government in 2005 to raise the recognition of South-East Australian indigenous art and to provide career opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists throughout Victoria.
"These awards are an opportunity to celebrate the artistic contributions of Aboriginal people and to reflect on the important links between art, culture and identity,” Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Natalie Hutchins said.
Ms Nicholls’ exhibit is currently on display at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
