Rowena Morgan Dirrarn (Black Cockatoo) Magnet
Magnet Artwork Story:
Dirrarn or Black Cockatoos can be found all around the east Kimberley especially near water holes, springs or old bore holes in the rocky landscape near Halls Creek where Rowena Morgan grew up. They love chewing the top off the dry grasses and the smaller branches of the gum trees- they are beautiful birds, but they also make the biggest mess, Chewing everything!
Rowena Morgan
Artist Bio:
Rowena Morgan is a Kija woman, born in Wyndam and growing up in Halls Creek. She remembers spending time as a child sitting down painting with her Grandmother, who taught her about important Kija knowledge and the stories she should paint.
Rowena began learning printmaking at Nagula Jarndu in 2014, transferring her already honed painting skills into block and screen-printed designs. Her artwork draws on aspects of her custodial country; the Lansdowne Ranges region of the East Kimberley; dry desert country, rocky riverbeds, spinifex grasslands and winding hillscapes and waterholes (full and drying up) and the creatures that inhabit these places. Her choice of ochre and muted tones connects audiences further to these places and the specific colours that are found there.
Rowena’s textiles are highly sought after winning the prestigious National Indigenous Fashion Award for Textile Design in 2023 at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair. She is also an independent artist and designer in her own right, launching her independent label; Nangarri Designs in 2024.
