Georgia Macguire: Onemda 

Artist Georgia MacGuire, known in her art practice as Blackgin, states that her heart beats for ‘Community, Culture and Country’. For her, art serves as a bridge, connecting her to others and enabling her to share her perspectives as a First Nations woman in what is now known as Australia. 

The exhibition title Onemda is a Woiwurrung word meaning ‘love’ or ‘the regard that we have for each other that holds us together as a community’. For MacGuire, the works in the exhibition connect with those moments in her life when experiences of different places have held and healed her. They include woven and 3D works made from natural materials such as paperbark and feathers including shields, hanging works and masks. McGuire’s connection to Country runs deep, intertwined with a profound love for the cherished animals and plants that share this land. In her practice, she dedicates herself to them, as well as to her Ancestors and all those that are only now present in her life as spirit.