Raymond Rodgers and Marion (Bubby-Girl) Solomon are partners in life and in art. Together they also have four children.
Solomon was born in Bairnsdale in 1971. Her mother, Glenis Solomon (nee Hood), is Gunai/Kurnai, her father, Albert Solomon, from the Monero people.
Rodgers, a Yita Yita descendant, was born in 1977 in Robinvale, the son of Edward and Kathy Rodgers. He moved to Lakes Entrance before settling with Solomon in Bairnsdale.
While Solomon travelled across both her lands and learnt about her culture with her family as they worked as seasonal pickers, the young Rodgers spent time with his father, Eddie Rodgers, going into the bush to find the raw material for spears, clap sticks and boomerangs as well as didgeridoos.
Rodgers and Solomon have a strong sense of family. Rodgers says: “My dad loves it when we bring the grandchildren home so he can show them what to do and how to find wood”.
The artists work together to turn detailed designs into works of wood burning art. Their works also incorporate paint into their finished design. The designs include the line markings that typify Victorian work and often depict both land and water creatures that are enmeshed in the artists’ lands, culture and lives.
Their works are regularly on display at East Gippsland Aboriginal Arts Corporation exhibitions and permanent display at the Bairnsdale Court House where the artists won a prize at the opening of the Koori Court in 2007. During 2007 their work was chosen for reproduction by the Indigenous Unit of the City of Melbourne.
- Writers:
- East Gippsland Aboriginal Arts Corporation
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2009
