Delia Summers, Indigenous ceramic, fibre and textile artist, was born on Flinders Island, Tasmania, in 1960. Summers grew up on Cape Barren Island, and much of her work is informed by her childhood memories of that time. In 2001, Summers graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and since then she has developed an eclectic art practice. Her textile works employ fine stitching and the reverse appliqué technique to create images that combine delicate patterning with bold, symbolic design elements, as in the work Keeping it Safe (2005), which is in the collection of National Museum of Australia, Canberra. She has also produced sculptural basketry out of coiled natural fibres, as well as ceramic pieces.
Summers’ work reflects her desire for Tasmanian Aboriginal culture to continue to guide and enrich the lives of Tasmanian Aboriginal people. This objective also informs the artist’s other professional and social commitments. For example, Summers has been a member of the Aboriginal Elders Council of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation, and in 2005 she participated in the “Meenah Mienne”(My Dream) mentorship project, which involved the sharing of art techniques with Indigenous youth at risk. As she states in the “Woollily” exhibition catalogue, Summers takes pride in her role as teacher “As I am a strong believer in maintaining our culture. Teaching enables the continuation of our heritage” (2003, p. 9).
Summers has also worked as a project curator for the National Gallery of Australia’s touring exhibition “Keeping Culture: Aboriginal Art to Keeping Places and Cultural Centres” exhibition (2000), and at the time of writing she was employed as a liaison officer at the Launceston General Hospital.
Exhibitions in Tasmania have included “Taking our Place” (2001) curated by Vicki West at the University Gallery in Launceston, “Fibre Culture” which was displayed at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston as part of the 2003 Ten Days on the Island Festival, and “Woollily” (2003), curated by Ricky Maynard at the Carnegie Gallery in Hobart. Summers’ works are in the collection of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, the National Museum of Australia, and the Australian National Maritime Museum.
- Writers:
- Fisher, Laura
Note:
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
- Status:
- peer-reviewed
