'Country isn’t just the land you walk on, it’s the waves, it’s the animals that live there, it’s the trees, it’s the noises you hear in the wind, and the ocean whispering all the time, and sometimes shouting and screaming. If you sit there, you’ll hear it.'
Darrell Sibosado is a Bard man from Lombadina situated on the Dampier Peninsula of the Kimberley coast, Western Australia. His practice explores the innovative potential of the riji (pearl shell) designs within a contemporary context. Passed down over countless generations, the designs represent the detached scales of Aalingoon, the Rainbow Snake, as he rests on the ocean surface, shedding his scales containing traditional knowledge and beliefs.
Through his printmaking and installations, Darrell reflects on traditional Bard lore and is intent on reiterating that Aboriginal culture is a living, adaptive culture that undeniably commands a presence in the contemporary space. Recently, Sibosado has transformed these traditional Bard shell carving designs into large-scale light sculptures.
Sibosado's work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, and Fondation Opale, Switzerland, and is currently undertaking large-scale commissions for several major exhibitions.