In Bherwherra – Swan Lake, Niah Juella McLeod transports us into a landscape steeped in mystery and memory. Swan Lake, locally known as Bherwherra, resonates with the croaking of frogs, creating an almost ritualistic atmosphere that the artist translates onto the canvas with remarkable sensitivity.

Niah applies raised concentric circles using a pipette, forming undulating patterns that evoke delicately embroidered pearls across the landscape. These circular motifs, which either stand out from or blend into carefully brushed backgrounds of iridescent or luminous colors, capture light and depth, offering the viewer a meditative and immersive experience. Each line, traced with a pipette, a brush, or an echidna quill, infuses a subtle energy, suggesting a fluid wave that travels across the entire composition.

In this series, Niah explores the deep, both visceral and spiritual, connection she maintains with her homeland, the Jervis Bay region. The circular motifs embody fundamental concepts of Aboriginal culture: continuity, interconnectedness, and the sacred. Here, the circle transcends mere natural representation to become a worldview in which past, present, and future converge in sacred harmony.

Each canvas by Niah Juella McLeod offers a contemporary reinterpretation of Aboriginal painting, blending tradition, emotion, and artistic innovation, while inviting the viewer to slow down and feel deeply the connection to land and memory.