selection of work includes:

Boodjara Kora Kaadidjiny (The Land Remembers)  |  Ngop Ngooni (Blood Brothers)

This significant installation by celebrated Noongar artist Sharyn Egan was commissioned by Chevron Australia to symbolise the coming together of people. Designed around the concept of the circle, with no beginning or end, it reflects not only the continuity of the oldest living culture in the world but the interwoven relationships we all share.

Boodjara Kora Kaadidjiny (The Land Remembers) draws its primary inspiration from a strong sense of place. It specifically celebrates the original meeting grounds of the Whadjuk Noongar peoples and extends to the entire Noongar nation and other peoples beyond. This place is also now referred to as Elizabeth Quay.

The installation abstractly recreates the fire pits, dance and songlines of the meeting grounds, paying homage to the importance of this place, community and the connections of the many Aboriginal clans that assembled here over time and for generations.

For them and for all of us, their past continues to resonate on this land and this artwork symbolises a constancy of spirit, today and in the future.

Egan writes: “In considering different points of view of the earth, the cosmos and the oceans, we need to recognise our obligation to nurture an awareness of our impact on the earth. In Aboriginal culture, everything is connected and equal — all life comes from the same atoms. Humans are not above nature. We live alongside simultaneous beauty and devastation.”

Fabrication Scape-ism: Artwork title translation by Kylie Bracknell

In this celebrated Noongar artist Sharyn Egan’s trio of paintings Ngop Ngooni (Blood Brothers), the central core of the balga tree, which remains well after the balga tree itself has died, represents the enduring spirit of Noongar Peoples who have survived the many hardships and atrocities of colonisation.

Using the resin of the balga, which Egan manipulates into glistening and muted marks across the surface, the painting draws on the many surface variations Egan has seen in the turned balga pieces she has collected. It also evokes traditional scarification and body painting. For Egan, Kalyakoorl (Always) is a physical manifestation of the strength and resilience of Noongar peoples, who continue the traditions of their ancestors while navigating a changing world.

Sharyn Egan was invited to produce a significant artwork on level two, and is positioned here to symbolise a continuous cultural connection throughout Chevron Australia’s headquarters.

Sharyn Egan
Whadjuk Noongar Peoples
Born Boorloo | Perth, Western Australia
Lives and works Walyalup | Fremantle

Sharyn Egan is a highly respected Noongar artist who began her practice at the age of 37. Informed by the experiences of her life as a Noongar woman growing up in New Norcia, Egan works in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, and woven form. She uses traditional and contemporary fibres, often incorporating collected materials belonging to boodja, which her ancestors have worked with since the beginning of time. Her woven works include traditionally styled contemporary forms and baskets and sculptural forms, often based on flora and fauna that have totemic significance for the Noongar people.