YIRUNG BILA (SKY HEAVEN RIVER)

YIRUNG BILA (SKY HEAVEN RIVER) is a site-specific work designed to connect visitors to The Cutaway and its inherent, unique qualities. The open cut sandstone provides the backdrop of the work, presenting textures and patterns that contain layering of history, reminding us of the continuing presence and custodianship of the Gadigal.

Nicole Foreshew envisages YIRUNG BILA (SKY HEAVEN RIVER) to connect with earth, sky, and water topographies using materials sourced from her sacred homeland Wiradjuri Country (Central West New South Wales) and Gumbaynggir Country where she lives on the Mid North Coast.

A key inspiration for the work and Foreshew’s practice, is the complex layers of mark making and meaning. Dominated by a strong sense of identity and spiritual aspects, the artist aims to illuminate ancestral spirits moving through the land and sky creating rivers, lakes and mountains.

The ochres, gypsum and clay were applied by hand to the nylon netting with the pieces then exposed day and night to the elements during the heavy rains that fell across the state in early 2022. Here too Foreshew embraces ephemerality and collaboration with Country as the work slowly transforms in response to the weather, light and passing of time.