Elisa Jane Carmichael

Quandamooka woman Elisa Jane Carmichael is a multidisciplinary artist who honours her saltwater heritage by incorporating materials collected from Country, embracing traditional techniques, and expressing contemporary adaptations through painting, weaving, and textiles. She comes from a family of artists and curators, and works closely with her female kin to revive, nurture, and preserve cultural knowledge and practice. Elisa is a descendant of the Ngugi people, one of three clans who are the traditional custodians of Quandamooka, also known as Yoolooburrabee—people of the sand and sea. Quandamooka Country comprises the waters and lands of and around Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) and Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island), south-east Queensland, Australia.

Her practice explores the beauty of nature and surrounding environments, drawing inspiration from her cultural identity and heritage. Elisa has a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia); and a Master of Fine Arts, QUT (Brisbane). She has created woven wearable collections that have been included in Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Fashion program and Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Virginia, USA.

Elisa Jane Carmichael is further developing her practice through both new techniques and materials acknowledging, nurturing, and protecting her culture and the resources of Quandamooka Country. Her unique explorations into contemporary Quandamooka weaving and vivacious use of colour and materials, are becoming more distinctly recognised by esteemed industry colleagues across the country. Elisa draws upon her practice to reflect on visual ancestral experiences of Quandamooka Bujong Djara (Mother Earth), to share the beauty, power, and importance of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) yesterday, today, and tomorrow—ngayigany, ngayiganya, ngayigawa (seen, seeing, will see).

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