REVELATION: Aunty Di Turner

Aunty Di Turner (born Gawler, SA, 1959?), is a member of the Stolen Generations from Kaurna Country, South Australia, living the rest of her life on Djab Wurrung Country. The softness of silk and the warmth of wool hold the marks of Country not as decoration, but as evidence of relationship in REVELATION, the inaugural solo exhibition of the Ararat-based artist.

Working with materials such as leaves, flowers, iron and copper, Turner uses eco-dyeing processes to draw colour, trace and pattern from the natural world and onto silk and wool. The process is both physical and intuitive. Rather than imposing an image onto the surface, Turner allows fibre, plant, metal and water to work together. The resulting textiles carry the imprint of Country through gathered materials, organic forms and mineral change.

The title REVELATION is intentionally multi-faceted. It alludes to the way the eco-dyeing process reveals new colours within cloth, the artist’s own artistic progression as a result of this exhibition, and the revelatory power of nature and the places that shape us. In this very special exhibition, Turner has expanded on her textile practice to explore contemporary textile installation, allowing her work to shift, move and respond to the movement of visitors within the exhibition space.