Future Woven Floral Forms (black) 3

Grace Lillian Lee
Meriam Mir people, Erub (Darnley) Island, Torres Strait Islands, Queensland
1988

Future Woven Floral Forms (black) 3
2020
canvas, cotton webbing
Place made
Cairns, Queensland
Medium
canvas, cotton webbing
State
1/1
Credit line
June Porter Fashion Fund 2023
Accession number
20235A13A
Signature and date
Not signed. Not dated.
Provenance
Created by the artist, 2020; (Station Gallery, Melbourne); Purchased by the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2023.
Collection area
Australian decorative arts and design
Copyright
© the artist

  • Future Woven Floral Forms (Black) 3 comes from a collection of eight works by Grace Lillian Lee created in response to a photograph of her Grandmother's wedding on Thursday Island, Queensland, in 1948. Lee's grandmother, Marcella, married a Chinese man and wore a white dress in a Western style. This image prompted Lee to reflect on her grandmothers life, and the wider impact of Western culture on first nations traditions and ceremonial dress. Using her own technique adapted from the traditional 'grasshopper' weaving technique passed on to her by respected artist and elder Uncle Ken Thaiday Senior, she hand crafted a series of sculptural body adornments. Woven headdress, or dari, have been made and worn by Miriam Mir people for tens of thousands of years. 

    Describing Future Woven Floral Forms Lee has said,  "The image of Grandma brings me so much curiosity about the life she would lead. I wanted to respond by exploring the concept of recreating a wedding dress using the techniques which have helped me connect with my cultural lineage and celebrate who I am, exploring the diversities and complexities around navigating my own journey to come to a place of acceptance." (Grace Lillian Lee 2020)

    1 Grace Lillian Lee, Ritual, Cairns Art Gallery, 2021, exhibition text: https://www.cairnsartgallery.com.au/files/media/original/001/bf2/2e7/f51/CAG_Ritual-2021_extended-labels.pdf