10/07/2026
As we celebrate NAIDOC Week (5 – 12 July 2026) we would like to share with you the etching ‘Women’s Journey’ (2010) by Yoolongteeyt Dr Vicki Couzens, a Kirrae Wurrong and Gunditjmara woman and a leading contemporary artist from the Western District of Victoria. Couzens uses her practice to express and sustain cultural knowledge, language, ceremony and teaching. She is widely recognised for her significant role in the revival of possum skin cloak making in Victoria, developed in collaboration with artists Lee Darroch (Yorta Yorta, Mutti Mutti and Boonwurrung) and Treahna Hamm (Yorta Yorta). This wonderful etching is just a small part of her much larger practice as an artist and community leader.
‘I do create artworks like paintings and printmaking, and even public art, but it’s the purpose, intent and the story that is behind the artworks or the creative expression. In our culture—story, painting, song, dance, they’re all part of the same story and one can’t be without the other. Even though you might see a painting and you’ve got a little label and a story, it’s only part of the expression of that story. It’s also a form of documenting for the future and ways of sharing.’ (1)
You can see this work and others in in the Deakin University Art Gallery’s Virtual Exhibition Space, showcasing a works by First Nations Women from South-Eastern Australia. Featuring 14 artist including Maree Clarke, Hayley Millar Baker, Vicki Couzens, Marlene Gilson, Deanne Gilson and Lisa Waup, the exhibition celebrates and highlights the strength, resilience and cultural knowledge embedded within contemporary First Nations art practice.
(1) Vicki Couzens interviewed by Tiarney Miekus, ‘Vicki Couzens: “Art is a part of life”’, Art Guide, 30 June 2023
Image: Vicki Couzens, ‘Women’s Journey’, 2010, etching, Purchase 2011, Deakin University Art Collection © courtesy of the artist.
