(Detail) – Telling the story of her life journey, this painting looks back at where self-taught artist Eboney Jade Hall has been, and her continued growth into the person she’s becoming. Photos: Eboney Jade Hall.
The COVID lockdown brought a major turning point for Barkindji and Ngiyampaa woman Eboney Jade Hall, resulting in the striking art exhibition coming to Clifton this week.
Faced with long days spent between four walls, like many parents, she bought art supplies she hoped would help her three daughters stave off cabin fever.
When it became clear her youngsters weren’t that interested, Eboney picked up the brushes herself, and painted a new pathway.
“I’ve dealt with alcohol abuse my whole adult life, and in that moment, something in me clicked,” she says.
“I was able to sit with my thoughts and concentrate on something for a few days. It was the first thing in a very long time that I had started and finished.
“I found myself going to the art supplies store instead of the bottle-o.”
Though untrained, in hindsight, art would always be part of Eboney’s story. But the key to finding her artistic voice would be connection with her culture.
She grew up as a foster child in Bombala, a tiny town of just 1500 people, very few of whom were Aboriginal.
“My culture was not a big part of my life,” she said.
“My understanding of art focused on Van Gogh and Monet and going to Canberra art galleries. I loved them, I loved all art, but I couldn’t get my own style onto a canvas.”
That changed in 2010 when she returned to her birthplace in Broken Hill and Wilcannia.
“I would sit and talk with the Aunties, and it was a steep learning curve,” she said.
“I wanted to raise my kids to be close to their family and to know their roots from an early age. I took them to Mutawintji where they would hunt and visit sacred sites. We ate kangaroo and emu. And while they were learning, I was learning.”
Now Tarrawanna-based, Eboney’s path culminates in her debut exhibition this weekend at Clifton School of Arts, where a collection of unique landscapes serves as a visual map of her journey back to Country and self.
Her style of contemporary Aboriginal art leans heavily on symbolism, and speaks to themes of family, reconnection and resilience, with heavy reference to the fauna, the flora, the waterholes, rivers and landscapes of her remembered youth.
The exhibition combines paintings loaned back from buyers of her work with new works created for this show and available for sale.
Eboney Jade Hall is on exhibition from Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 May, 10 am to 5 pm, at Clifton School of Arts, with an official launch on Friday 29 May from 6 to 8 pm. Visit Eboney’s Art for more information, or follow her on Facebook.
