RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS: Naomie Hatherley

In August, Artist in Residence Naomie Hatherley began the first leg of her residency with the North Midlands Project. We asked Naomie to share a bit about her experience of living and working in Carnamah with us. Here’s what she had to say…

What’s in a residency? 

When I applied for this residency, I had no idea whether I could make it work. I had found an interesting thread that pulled at me, and with a last-minute change of concept, I took a gamble and pitched an idea for a project.

This thread, a story about some flowers left on a grave, is woven deep into the fabric of the Macpherson Homestead and its people, from more than a hundred years ago. Since my first visit, this single thread has now split into multiple, running out in all directions. Multiple threads, that come November, I will somehow spin together into art.

Deep in “Shearing the rams” territory, a wool analogy feels fitting to describe my research process. If ‘shearing’ could describe the Carnamah Historical Society’s gathering of historical accoutrements over time, then the experience of my recent visit felt like cleaning and carding this ‘wool’, ready for spinning into a community art-yarn in November. I just need a good pattern, needles and some arty crafters…

Shearing the Rams

Flying into Perth from sunny Broome, I travelled on the bus into the heart of the North Midlands, through Amangu, Badimia, Yued and Widi country. The long travel time allowed me space to decompress, but not nearly enough to adjust to the chilly temperature change. The first three days felt like the shock of an ice-bath; all body sensation diminished mental capacity. 

I started fleecing some source materials held in the Carnamah Museum collection, coupled with some local op-shop snippets, but it was my daily ritual of running that, evidently, pulled the wool from my eyes.

Running out to the Macpherson Homestead to sketch the old kitchen ruins became a way of gaining ‘a feel’ for the place. These solitary hours were increasingly more fruitful as the landscape, and precious rare wildflowers, revealed themselves to me. Each day I took longer and longer, sweating ‘en-plein air’, running and sketching as my ideas took on more depth and texture through time and experience.

Sharing studio time at the Carnamah Exchange with master printmaker, Francesco (Franky) Geronazzo, also on residency, was an unexpected bonus of my stay. Franky was a terrific source of inspiration, advice and information. He quickly became my art-adventurer and comrade-in-arms as we explored the landscape, op shops, farm bric-a-brac, shire office and metal dump for source materials, all the while discussing the benefit of exercise in nature on one’s artistic process.

Naomie Hatherley sketching and painting the Macpherson Homestead

Cleaning, carding and community

Team North Midlands are a sophisticated support system who jumped to assist me with my exploratory research. From scouting in the big Bertha van with Siobhan to visiting heritage sites with historian Andrew Bowman-Bright, they were consummate hosts and guides. From a frottage of Donald Macpherson’s gravestone on a rainy Sunday afternoon, to whimsical, rambling excursions cross-country to locate the endangered Carnamah Bell, Andrew indulged my every fossicking whim, including trying to find the first footings of the Macpherson Homestead, and sampling a source of ancient spring water near the property. This is an ancient spring that most likely features in the song lines of the Traditional Owners on the land that covers Carnamah and beyond; the intersecting lands of the Amangu, Badimia, Yued and Widi peoples.

Connecting with community is a key aspect of this residency, so I made the most of every opportunity to meet and engage with local people and groups. Chats with the arts and craft group and the Men’s Shed, along with a story sharing session with the local writer’s group Scribes of North Midlands, revealed an eclectic bunch of individuals, drawn together through the magic of small town community spirit – a real highlight of my two weeks in Carnamah.

Small towns are often characterised by the friendly personalities you run into at the local shop or down the street. Lydia from the local café, One L Of a Feed, won me over instantly with a generous gift of freshly ground coffee, to see me through the days the café was closed!

It must have been the threads again, that kept pulling me back to fossick through the stationery and haberdashery supplies at Wallace’s News and Drapery. Sandi and Stan Wallace had the best jam in town. My excessive haberdashery browsing lead to the discovery of a shared passion with Sandi for printed textiles and wildflowers. And not to forget Nigel, an enthusiastic Exchange volunteer of extensive wildflower intel. I was also amazed by community-engaged volunteer of the century, George, an agile 96 year-old historian who volunteers at the museum along with his wife, Pam. Together, the two have spent over 800 volunteer hours restoring the Macpherson homestead to its former glory.

Some of the community members from Carnamah and surrounds

Spinning Yarns

So, what was this deeply woven thread that pulled at me from the Macpherson Homestead archives? It was a series of floral tributes made in 1931 – a quiet legacy bearing the threads of reconciliation, read in flowers left on a gravesite almost a hundred years ago. Eight floral tributes gifted by seventeen Aboriginal families on the grave of Scottish early settler, Donald Macpherson, of the Macpherson clan, was an extraordinary fact. Who were these people and what was the nature of their relationship?

Helping to bridge this gap in cultural understanding, the North Midlands team fortuitously introduced me to Tymia Councillor, a wonderful First Nations early-career artist. I knew we would be friends when she showed me her beautiful footy-inspired artworks – a thread in common that linked us immediately. Tymia and I kicked around the idea of collaborating together, responding to the Macpherson Homestead history. I hope this collaboration will evoke the sense of lost and found over time, that speaks to ideas of reconciliation.  I am very much looking forward to working alongside and learning from Tymia in the months ahead.

Stay tuned for developments in Carnamah this November.

Naomie Hatherley and Tymia Councillor | Naomie gets an imprint from Donald Macpherson’s grave | Naomie’s studies of the Macpherson Homestead, and people and flora of the region

Naomie’s residency will continue in Carnamah from November-December 2024. To find out more about Naomie’s Threads In Common x Activating Collections Residency, head to Artist Residencies

ART ON THE MOVE’s 2024-25 Artists in Residence Program is made possible through the Regional Exhibition Touring Boost with funding managed by Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.