There is very little of Nyree Reynolds’ life that she keeps hidden from public view.
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She doesn’t directly seek recognition, but her genuine desire to help others understand and enjoy both art and the Wiradjuri language has seen Nyree being named as Blayney’s first Woman of the Year.
Organiser of the Delanie Sky said that Nyree’s work meant that more families are now confidently claiming their Aboriginality, and with Nyree’s support, their children are embracing their culture.
Visiting Greens MP Dr Mehreen Faruqi, was so impressed with the Blayney Shire International Women’s Day awards that on her return to NSW parliament she introduced a motion recognising the work of both Nyree as Woman of the Year and Jordan Kelly as Young Woman of the Year.
Recognition for your work is always welcome, but it’s away from the spotlight and in front of a canvas that Nyree finds herself able to explore her own family history and her journey of discovery as a proud Wiradjuri woman.
Currently Nyree has five panels in the StarPicket exhibition that’s currently on in the Orange Regional Gallery, and it’s development as a piece of art is fascinating.
“Blayney and Orange schools had a retreat down in Neville last year and they did sky stories, so I did paintings with the kids down there for that,” she said.
They move very gently as people pass them, so it’s very interesting.
- Nyree Reynolds
In the exhibition Nyree has five paintings all hanging from the ceiling of the gallery and each one tells a different part of her story.
“They’re painted on chiffon and it’s my ancestry right from my aboriginal ancestors at Wallerawang,” she explains.
“The first one is an actual replica of the skies in January in Wallerawang, and then they show my female ancestors down the line, all within the different skies until you get to the last painting which is of me in a Blayney landscape.”
Hanging from the ceiling, the chiffon material adds a different element to the works.
“They move very gently as people pass them, so it’s very interesting,” she said.
Like her ancestors, the visual is used to tell the story, not words, and it’s that element that she takes into classrooms.
“These are stories without words, their own stories, where they live and where they go,” she said.
StarPickets ends April 1.