Carol McGregor’s Skin Country is an oversized map of the greater Brisbane area, decorated with delicate botanical illustrations. The artist consulted extensively with Elders, community members and historians on the placement of the native flora, which are painted with natural pigments and ochres sourced from the areas depicted. The deliberate placement takes care to acknowledge natural sightlines between the mountains, rivers, rainforests and swamps that existed pre-settlement. Placements of some flora correspond to Aboriginal suburb names, coined for the abundance of a particular plant in the area.

McGregor’s use of stitched possum skins as the map’s surface is interwoven with the complex history of cultural revival practices. Her work is also informed by her Wathaurung inheritance of possum-skin cloak-making traditions and traditional knowledge. McGregor explains:

Traditionally, possum-skin cloaks were a significant cultural item, not only as clothing but also as signifiers of your identity. The inside of the skins was marked and ochred with personal tribal designs, totems and maps of Country. Contemporary possum-skin cloak-making is a recent continuation of this practice and, for each new cloak, the art on the skins is deeply considered and relevant to our communities.