Edna Ambrym is a featured artist in Jabu Birriny (land + sea), an exhibition developed by State Library of Queensland (SLQ) in partnership with Yarrabah Arts and Cultural Precinct and toured by Flying Arts Alliance from 2019 to 2021.
Edna comes from the Gunggandji people on her mother’s side and is Eastern Kuku Yalanji on her father’s side. She has lived in Yarrabah all her life, raising a large family and has been a practising artist with Yarrabah Arts and Cultural Precinct for 10 years. Her daughter Valmai and husband Ruben are also artists working at the Art Centre.
Edna is an accomplished artist whose favourite medium is painting, but she also works across ceramics, printmaking and textiles to share memories and experiences of Yarrabah. A childhood filled with fishing, hunting and collecting from the land with her family is a continuous inspiration in the stories she paints.
Her intimate understanding of the land and sea is reflected by abstract and illustrative depictions of food sources, seasonal change, significant places and features of Country. Her work celebrates the vitality and beauty of Yarrabah’s environment and ensures the stories of her community and culture are carried brightly into the future.
See Edna’s Interview with the State Library of Queensland
Flying Arts Alliance acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands and seas on which we work, live and create. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.