Shirley Macnamara runs a thriving cattle property in remote central Queensland, close to her ancestral Country and near the city of Mt Isa, one of the most productive mineral mining sites in Australia. Macnamara has worked with spinifex – a common native grass – for several decades and sees its inherent strength and flexibility as a metaphor for the resilience of Aboriginal peoples and as a reflection of her deep cultural and family connections. To create these vessels, Macnamara strips the outer layer from the spinifex roots to reveal its colours which change with the seasons, from pale yellow during rainy times to intense red when it is dry and hot. 

Macnamara has placed local galah feathers and deep red ochre in the nest-like interior of Erkel (Vessel), itself created from twined spinifex combined with yellow ochre, which the artist found in an old mining pit on her property.