Hear from Nyoongar painter, weaver, and sculptor Sharyn Egan yarning with Beau James, Head of First Nations Programming, Sydney Opera House.

Sharyn Egan is a painter, weaver and sculptor. As a member of the Stolen Generation who grew up in the New Norcia Mission School much of her artwork is a commentary on her life as a Nyoongar woman and the associated trauma, emotions and deep sense of loss and displacement experienced by Aboriginal people. Never afraid of experimentation and exploration, she works in numerous media, including painting, sculpture, woven forms and site specific installations, often choosing materials, such as ochres, resins and grasses that connect to land, especially her home near the lake system in the southern suburbs of Perth. Her woven works include traditionally styled contemporary forms and baskets, as well as larger scale sculptural forms.

Beau James is currently Head of First Nations Programming at the Sydney Opera House. Beau is from the Mununjali clan of the Yugambeh Nation from South East Queensland with links to Stradbroke Island. James has worked as a company director, circus artist, physical theatre and cabaret performer, and was the co-founder and director of Circus Minimus in Brisbane for 10 years. For the last seven years, James worked as Manager Indigenous Programs at the Australian National Maritime Museum, curating innovative exhibitions and programs, and sourcing new works that intertwine the traditional and the contemporary to explore First Nations culture.