Dulcie Sharp’s latest exhibition, Tjulpu Tjuta; Tjilkamata Tjuta! (Birds; Echidnas!), is a story of colour, joy and beauty. It speaks of childhood and family, and strong women coming together to improve the lives of their community.

Dulcie was born at Hamilton Downs in 1957 and spent much of her young life growing up there. They are some of her most beloved happy memories and where she draws much inspiration for her work.

‘That is where I grew up and was really happy in the bush with Trudy and my other family… Everyday after school we used to go swimming at Jay Creek. My grandmother taught me everything about culture; how to find honey ants, bush tucker, dancing, language. This made me strong,’ she says.

In 2000, Dulcie, who is a very respected elder, helped set up the Yarrenyty Arltere Learning Center at the Larapinta Valley Town Camp in Alice Springs where she lives. She wanted a safe place for her community to keep culture strong and to positively face the chronic social issues plaguing their home at the time.

The art room is now a vibrant hub of laughter and creativity, driven by a gregarious bunch of women.

‘[It’s] a good place for being with each other. I sit in Trudy’s spot now and do these paintings like Trudy did too and I do my sewing on the weekend, because sewing keeps me settled down,’ Dulcie explains.

She started off sewing what is now her signature soft sculptures of Tjulpu (birds) and Tjilkamata (echidnas), hand embroidered with bright woolen yarns. From there she began painting and drawing her soft sculptures, intricately emulating the embroidery as works on paper, in a beautiful transition of one skill to another.

Her latest exhibition, now showing at Laundry Gallery, features ‘pretty birds and spikey echidnas on Country’ on paper, the figures drawing on her sewing and scuplutral work, demonstrating a beautiful conversation between mediums.

You can see and shop Tjulpu Tjuta; Tjilkamata Tjuta! (Birds; Echidnas!) at Laundry Gallery, open now.