Glennys Briggs, painter, is a descendant of the Yorta Yorta people on her father’s side, and the Tungwarrung people on her mother’s side. Born in 1948 at Mooroopna, Victoria, Briggs was raised on the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Reserve on the banks of the Murray River in New South Wales until she was 14 years old. After spending a few years in Nathalia, Victoria, where her parents ran a secondary school hostel for Aboriginal children (the first such hostel in Australia), Briggs moved to Melbourne, where she lived until she moved to Shepparton in 1995. In these years, Briggs worked as foster care worker, Aboriginal liaison officer and legal field officer for Aboriginal communities, as well as a flag maker. In 2002, which was the year she began painting, Briggs moved to Queensland.
Briggs was inspired to paint by her mother, who began to write short stories at the age of 72. Many members of her family pursue creative activities including painting, photography, songwriting, wood and emu egg carving, and cultural story telling. Briggs draws inspiration and support from her family’s varied art practice, and many of Briggs’ paintings are based on the creation beings described in her brother’s stories. Her paintings seek to enrich people’s sense of connection with the land.
Briggs began exhibiting her paintings in 2004. Her first solo exhibition, titled “Spoken in Whispers”, was held at Cumquats Restaurant in West End, Brisbane. In that year she also participated in the “Aboriginal Art Exhibition” at the College of Hospitality in Nice, France. Other exhibitions have included the 2006 “Tribal Expressions Visual Arts Showcase” at The Arts Centre, Melbourne, and a number of NAIDOC week and Reconciliation week exhibitions. In 2008, Briggs was living on the Gold Coast.
- Writers:
- Fisher, Laura
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
