This print is about the Bilam (plum).
It is one of the first bush fruits I can remember learning about as a kid. When I went to Yirrkala school, I would collect these plums at teatime as a snack. It is sweet and tasty.
Bilam grows in the wet season and can be found in many places. There is a bilam tree in front of the Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre.
As a print maker, I love experimenting with different colours and print methods. I made this print using Linocut and Screen-print.
The geometric shapes in the background represent how the elders teach our djamarrkuli (kids) to identify different fruits and plants. The dark purple and light purple reflect the colours of the bilam.
The linocut marking inside the shapes that are light pink and black reflect the surface of the pip of the bilam.
The outer purple border with the black linocut lines represents the veins on the leaves.
The ‘flowers’ represent a cluster of the leaves of the bilam. I outlined them using the screen-print method. It was meant to be a light blue, but somehow when dry, it magically changed into two colours mauve and light blue. I still don’t know how this happened, but I love it.
This print was hidden away for a year as the artist had the responsibility of being printmaker for other artists at Buku. After some time, she rediscovered it and she thinks the colour change is because the print came ‘alive’ after being dormant for so long.