The Regional Victoria Tapestry Project arose from a desire to deliver creative engagement with and opportunities for regionally-based artists and weavers. For this project, Castlemaine-based, ATW weaver, Jennifer Sharpe wove translations of two sections of Yorta Yorta, Mutti Mutti and Boon Wurrung artist Lee Darroch’s 'Lyrebird Songline' possum skin cloak.

Darroch has lived and worked as an artist and community cultural worker on Raymond Island, Gippsland Lakes, for over 30 years. She is renowned for the revival of traditional cultural practices across South-eastern Australia, particularly possum skin cloak making, feather-work, and coiled basketry. The ATW first connected with Darroch and her practice when she participated in the 2019 Artist in Residence Program. During her residency, Darroch identified similarities between the labour-intensive task of making a traditional Possum skin cloak and tapestry construction, and here a discussion began regarding the possibility of a tapestry collaboration. Skins are gathered, stretched and cured and sewn together with kangaroo sinew, and then decorated with designs depicting stories of clan and Country. Cloaks are used to keep warm, protect infants, carry and tell stories, and play an essential role in ceremonies.

Working from her home studio in Castlemaine, Sharpe used a #12 warp at 3.5 warps per cm and 5 to 6 strands of yarn, a mix of ATW wool and cotton, per bobbin. Sharpe chose to emphasise the slit between tapestry warps to highlight the seam where the possum skin panels join and focused on the cloak’s subtle nuances, including the creases of the textile, stitching and application of ochre paint.

'Lyrebird Songline #1' and 'Lyrebird Songline #2' are generously supported by Creative Victoria.