Sophie Honess on the Power of Weaving and Supporting Emerging Artists

This story is part of a series profiling artists and mentors involved in the Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions: My Country. In their own words, artists and mentors share their personal stories, shine a light on their work and community and share the messages they have for the next generation of First Nations creatives.

Here, Sophie talks about the power of learning weaving practice in her hometown, the beauty of Gomeroi Country and why it’s important to recognise First Nations communities as the first artists and designers.

I remember reading heaps of testimonies about learning to weave for the first time and how it made people feel like something had woken up inside of them. That really resonated with me. We are big weavers us Gomeroi women; we are around big rivers. Working with a really beautiful group of women and learning this practice in my hometown was very special. I soon became obsessed with weaving, and I even made my own loom at home.

At the end of 2017 I became part of the Yinarr Maramali collective. We do a lot of exhibitions together. We have a contract with Koskela and make lampshades. A few years ago, I sent baskets made from Lomandra down to Sydney to be sold. In Tamworth it’s hard to find a space to sell things, so we focus a lot on doing workshops and school projects. It’s nice to be able to share our work and connect with people in some of the bigger cities.

When my mentor Jonathan (Jonathan Jones) called me about this Country Road + NGV Commissions project, I had just quit my job and was trying to become an artist full-time. I was used to making smaller pieces of work; things that could sell in a retail environment. But around this time, I had decided that I really wanted to spend six months making something significant… so the timing of Jonathan’s call worked out perfectly.

One of the most interesting things for me, was working with a big gallery. There are so many people involved and I’m not great with all the email chains and administration, so it was good to have Jonathan there through all of that. It was just a new but amazing experience.

I had met Jonathan once before at Carriageworks when I was in Sydney at an event with Arts North West. We spoke a little, and I remember someone asking if they could share my details with him, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.

I was pretty shocked when he called me about this opportunity and told me he wanted to mentor me. I was so overwhelmed. Jonathan is a great artist. He is so encouraging, and he is from Barraba in New South Wales, so he just understood my Country. The colour of the hills, the big skies and the creeks are familiar to both of us. Having a mentor through a commission process has its benefits. It’s good to bounce ideas off someone and it’s also good to know the person wants to mentor you because they have come to you and said they want to guide you. Sometimes in the industry you feel like you’re annoying people by asking for advice, but in this process, you’re doing it together.

The work I have created is called Daruka and it’s a work of three rugs to be hung on the wall. Daruka is just behind the hills near my house, and it was traditionally a big ceremony space. There are scars of our ancestors living out that way and all my friends lived there when I was growing up. My relationship with that place was special and familiar to me as a kid, and it’s amazing to re-explore it as an adult through a cultural lens.

I want people to know that Gomeroi Country is just so big and there are so many wonders to visit here. Each road can take you to a different part of Country and it will look really different. Through this work, I just want to share a special place from my home that I hope people visit. The mountains play a big part of our storyline for example, but if you are just driving through town, it’s something that you could miss.

This commissions process is all about paying homage to First Nations artists and designers. It’s great that Country Road and the NGV recognise First Nations peoples as the first artists and designers of this country. Big galleries and big brands can easily go and commission work from an established artist, but the fact that this process has been focused on establishing artists is the most encouraging and inspiring part.