First Nations Artist Darrell Sibosado is Shining a New Light on Ceremonial Carvings

This First Nations visual artist is shining new light on ancient ceremonial carvings.

In the multi-pronged art practice of Darrell Sibosado – grounded by his life and lore as a Goolarrgon Bard man from Western Australia’s Dampier Peninsula – one aspect is more or less simple: Sibosado is a carver, like his nephews, his brothers, his father, his uncles and his ancestors.

For generations, they’ve carved designs on riji (pearl shell) to be worn by men as pubic covers during Ceremony. “That’s where the whole light thing came from,” he says. “It’s about capturing the iridescence, shine and many layers of the pearl.”

In 2022, Sibosado made the leap from etching maze-like motifs on paper and in ochre-coloured metal to presenting them as light sculptures. LED works such as Galalan at Gumiri, included in the 2024 Biennale of Sydney, immediately arrest the eye – the 14-metre-long installation of geometric shapes wrought in white light looks like a language that’s both ancient and futuristic.

His latest project is a collaboration with Bangarra Dance Theatre, the company’s first with a visual artist. Illume (touring 4 June to 13 September) explores light as a glowing bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Recently, Sibosado welcomed the Bangarra creative team to his home in Lombadina. “We went to the pindan cliffs at Kooljaman. It’s this beautiful red rock that hits the white sand beaches. I really wanted them to get all those contrasts. For me, the waves and the ocean is where the information is coming from.” 

Working with Bangarra is “taking my mind in a new direction”, says Sibosado. “I want to find a way to merge our traditional materials – pearl shell, ebony, dugong bone, turtle shell, trochus – with metal and light. People still have stereotypes about Aboriginal art; they think it’s dot paintings or ochre. But we’ve always worked with the materials in our environment. If my ancestors were here, they’d be using what I’m using, too.”

Exhibited at: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Fondation Opale, Switzerland; Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

Awards: Finalist in the National Works on Paper prize, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery (2024)

Breakthrough moment: “My 2022 work, Ngarrgidj Morr (the proper path to follow), was the first time I worked with light. It’s a whole other visual language but my inspiration remains traditional Bard designs.”

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