Jenni Kemarre Martiniello is an acclaimed contemporary artist with Arrente Ancestry and connections to her Grandmother’s country in Central Australia.
In 2013 Martiniello was awarded the prestigious 30th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. She is regarded as one of the most significant Australian artists working with glass today. Her art practice intertwines traditional Venetian glass techniques with ancient Indigenous Australian functional sculpture objects. These exquisite works pay tribute to woven forms drawn from a rich cultural heritage.
The exhibition showcases a diverse range of works, including dilly bags and fish traps from the regions of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory and the unique bicornual baskets from North Queensland.
Weaving is an integral part of Aboriginal cultures and Martiniello’s work brings this into focus. The work celebrates this rich and diverse tradition through a contemporary context. Using the fluid nature of molten glass, her work re-explores and re-invents the weave. Within the play of glass, colour and light, the viewer is offered a new way to engage with the complex beauty and depth of these forms, giving them the power to evoke ancestral connections. Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, who currently lives and works in Canberra, and her team of selected artists, connect glass innovation with ancient traditional practices, producing beautiful and inspirational works of art.
Curator: Kelli Cole
Image: Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, Installation Shot, Canberra Glassworks. Photo by Adam McGrath.